With a Little Love
by RansomeNote
Summary: Gray and Juvia move into a house that is part of the "House a Student" program so they could be closer to the university that they are going to. Gray is worried about his best friend Natsu because he became depressed after his girlfriend was caught cheating on him. How can Gray help him feel better? With a young high school girl by the name of Lucy, of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Ages:**

**Lucy: 17**

**Natsu: 19**

**Gray: 19**

**Juvia: 18**

**Levy: 17**

**Gajeel: 19**

**Erza: 19**

The _House a Student Program _was created for the purpose of making sure college students had a care-free environment to work in. This program allowed families to let college students live with them for no cost at all. You might ask why people don't immediately sign up for this program. Well, there are a few answers to that question.

Some kids don't want to get stuck with some weird ass family that they don't know. Some kids want to try to be independent with their lives and find an apartment or live in the school dormitories. There was also the fact that not many families were willing to take other children in.

The kids that did sign up are supposed to find their new home on October 8th, which happened to be the day of the great Fantasia Festival. What luck, huh?

That was the exact thought of two young college students going into their freshman year in college. These two went to Fairy Tail University, which was only a few blocks away from the house they were going to stay at. These young people promised that they would move in together after they got out of high school, but neither of them had enough money to afford an apartment and they didn't want to trouble their parents, so when they saw this program, they jumped at the chance. Now they are walking blindly through the streets of the vast city of Magnolia, trying to find their new home.

* * *

><p>Two young college students were walking through the colorful festival of Fantasia, dragging their luggage through the streets. Floats were parading the street and policemen were stationed every few feet trying to keep the excited citizens of Magnolia back. One was a young male with spiky raven locks and pale skin. His chest was shown to everyone because he happened to strip off his shirt. This young strip- I mean man is Gray Fullbuster, a freshman in Fairy Tail University. He strips unintentionally, which makes many girls swoon over his abs, making a certain bluenette jealous.<p>

The said bluenette was standing right next to him. Her name is Juvia Locksar, also a freshman in college and Gray's girlfriend. She got jealous quite easily, and wasn't very fond of other girls looking at her Gray, but once you got to know her, she was a very fun-loving girl who sticks up for her friends. She speaks in third-person, which got her teased and bullied until Gray stood up for her in their junior year in high school. They have been dating ever since.

Anyway, as the two young University students maneuvered their way around the people at the festival, they were mentally banging their heads into brick walls. It was so hard to find this person's house. Gray, already so agitated with finding the house of the person they were going to live with, got even more irritated when he thought of his best friend, even though he would never admit it, Natsu. Natsu just found out that his girlfriend Lisanna had been cheating on him with a bastard, as Gray said it, named Bixlow. Natsu has been depressed for three weeks and nothing Gray did was able to help him. He barely came out of his house anymore when he used to be the social butterfly of their group.

Juvia sensed Gray's discomfort. She knew that if Natsu was feeling sad, Gray wouldn't be the same. Even though they were rivals, they still cared about each other, even though they would rather die than admit to that. She placed a hand on his bare shoulder. He turned around to look at her and found himself staring into her deep blue eyes.

"Juvia knows you are thinking about Natsu-san. Juvia hates seeing you like this, but Natsu-san has to get over this slump by himself. Don't worry; he's going to get better." Juvia said with a slight smile on her face. Gray was about to protest that he wasn't thinking about that flame brain, but Juvia quickly pulled him into a hug, which Gray returned, letting his cool guy look fade away for just a second. He let his suitcase drop to the ground as he hugged her.

"Thanks Juvia, now let's find this house we're supposed to stay at." Gray smiled and Juvia nodded as they both started down Strawberry Street, where their host said their house would be. Gray looked from his little scrap of paper in his hand to the apartment building before him. "I think this is it." Gray said, unsurely. Juvia nodded and they both approached the house and knocked on the door. After the second knock, the door was answered. A blonde haired girl, who looked about two or three years younger than them, answered the door. She wore a bright smile on her face as she saw them.

"Hi I'm Lucy Heartfilia, you're Juvia and Gray, right?" The girl asked. They both smiled and nodded and her smile got wider. "Come on in, make yourself at home." She said. The two college students stepped inside the apartment, while Lucy disappeared behind a door. It was nice and cozy. It was also very well kept.

Lucy came back and asked them if they wanted coffee. "That would be fine, thank you."

"Great, 'cause coffee is all I got." Lucy said. Gray let out a chuckle and Juvia smiled. She came back with two cold caramel Frappuccinos and gave them each one.

"I love Frappuccinos, how did you know?" Gray said sarcastically.

"I have ESP powers, duh." Lucy responded. Juvia started to get a little jealous.

"Lucy-san, Juvia would like you to know that Juvia is Gray-sama's girlfriend, and I will not tolerate anyone trying to take him from me." Gray rolled his eyes, but smiled. He knew Juvia was very possessive, but he wouldn't have her any other way. Lucy gave a slight smile to this.

"Don't worry Juvia, I'm not looking for a relationship right now. Besides, you and Gray look like an adorable couple. I wouldn't want to split that up." Lucy said. Juvia blushed and Gray put his arm around her. "So you speak in third-person, huh?" _Oh no, is she going to tease Juvia? _Juvia thought. "That is so cool!" Lucy said, surprising Juvia. Juvia didn't know what to say. This girl was something else. "Oh! Pardon my rudeness; I have to introduce myself fully. My name is Lucy Heartfilia, I am 17 years old and I'm a senior in Magnolia High. My favorite color is pink and I like taking videos and creative writing."

"My name is Gray Fullbuster, I'm 19 years old, and I'm a freshman in Fairy Tail University, and so is Juvia. I enjoy snowboarding and ice cream and hanging out with my friends. I don't have a chosen profession yet, but I'll just take what life throws at me." Gray said coolly while reclining on her white leather couch. Lucy smiled at him and then turned to Juvia.

"Juvia's name is Juvia Locksar, Juvia is 18 years old and a freshman in Fairy Tail. Juvia enjoys swimming and wants to be an Olympic swimmer when she grows up. Juvia was teased a lot because she talks in third-person, but she is very happy that Lucy-san accepts her." Juvia said while faintly blushing. Lucy gets up from her seat opposite from them and goes up to Juvia, kneels down, and hugs her.

"No matter how you speak, I will always accept you." Lucy said while smiling. She got up and looked at both of them, "Come, let me show you to your rooms. There are three bedrooms. One is occupied by me, so you can have the other two." She led them down the hall that led to four doors, two doors on each side. The walls were plain white but had many frames containing pictures of nature and wildlife. At the end of the hall was a door leading to the backyard. "These two doors on the right wall are your rooms. This door here," she points to a door on the left side, "is my room. The door right next to me is the bathroom. Make yourselves at home, I'll call you to the kitchen when dinner is ready." She said as she went back down the hall. Juvia went into the room across from Lucy's and Gray went into the room across from the bathroom.

Gray flopped his suitcase down on the floor and looked around the room, it was decent sized with a queen-sized bed, a desk so he could do work, a bookshelf, a ceiling fan and a large glass window. It was a one-story apartment, so he didn't get much view, but his window looked out over the garden, where he saw Lucy picking lots of fresh produce. He smiled, Lucy seemed like a nice girl, but…

Where were her parents?

He decided to push that though to the back of his mind. He had another thought coursing through his mind. One problem that has kept him worried for weeks.

_Natsu. How can I help you?_

**_Hello, Minna._**** My name is RansomeNote ( yes, I know ransom doesn't have an 'e'.) and I'm very happy to be writting for this site. I know this is a bit slow, but I can assure you that things will get more interesting. I am open to all criticism, both constructive and destructive, because I just want to make the story better. If you don't like stories like these, then you can check out my other story, which is a whole different idea. Thank you for reading. Ja ne! **

**~RansomeNote**


	2. Enter Lucy Heartfilia

"Gray, Juvia, dinners ready!" Lucy yelled from the kitchen. Juvia struggled to get up from the cloud of a bed that Lucy gave her. The bed was doing wonders on her sore muscles that she got from swimming. She went out the door at the same time Gray did, they both smiled at each other and then started down the hallway to find Lucy in the kitchen next to the living room. The walls were painted a brilliant yellow color that wasn't too straining on the eyes. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen with a mixture of grey and black granite, with a wooden frame. The table where they were going to eat at was cherry wood that was painted white to look like ivory, and there were three chairs of Victorian design.

"I'm really not the best chef in the world, but I do know a few recipes that I can perform really well. The rest of the time, I just order out." Lucy said. On the table were crab cakes with a side of steamed peas. There was also a pot of mashed potatoes and a simple vegetable and beef stew dotted with cooked Brussel sprouts. **(I didn't know what to put, so I just put one of my favorite dishes that my mom makes)**. In the middle of the table was evenly sliced bread with butter on the side. The sight made the college student's mouths mentally drool.

"It is more than enough, Juvia thanks you. We are lucky that you made so much, Gray-sama eats a lot." Juvia said giggling. Gray chuckles and ruffles her hair as they both sit down.

"Thanks for the food Lucy!" Gray says as he starts to dig in. Juvia and Lucy sweat drop.

"So when are you two starting class?" Lucy asks, trying to start a conversation.

"Next week on Tuesday. We still have to get some stuff ready and the orientation is the day after tomorrow at around two." Juvia said, digging into her mashed potatoes. She smiles in content as she ate, and Lucy couldn't feel happier.

The rest of the dinner was spent talking and laughing. Juvia and Gray told her about all of their friends and Lucy told them about what Magnolia High was like now, because they were only there last year. Apparently they upped the standards so it would be harder to get into the top universities. Lucy was anxious about that, but she didn't let it show. Lucy told them about her love for writing and video production. She says she makes videos all the time.

When they finished, Gray, being the gentleman he is * cough *, went to do the dishes for Lucy.

"Just to let you guys know, I have to go to school tomorrow, so are you guys going to be fine here on your own?" Lucy asked. Juvia told her not to worry. Magnolia High starts their school in September, and it was Sunday.

"Hey Lucy!" Gray called from the kitchen. He came out holding a beautiful wooden guitar. "Is this yours?" Gray asked while strumming a few chords.

"No, I don't even know how to play." Lucy said with a slight laugh, even though she was a bit less cheery than usual. "That is my mother's guitar." Lucy said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Gray said, about to set it down when Lucy stopped him.

"No, you can have it. It is better that someone plays it than waiting for it to collect dust." Lucy said. Juvia started to notice her frown a bit. Lucy started to walk down the hall again when Gray started to talk again.

"But won't your mother care?" He asked with a worried expression. Lucy seemed to freeze and tense up. She slowly turned towards the two.

"My mother passed away when I was ten." She said with a downcast expression.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that." Gray said. Lucy shot him a look, telling him that it was okay.

"Excuse Juvia for prying, but what about your father?" Juvia asked. The look Gray had signified that he wanted to know too.

"I-I… I don't live with him anymore." Lucy said as she turned back to the direction she was facing and started back down the hall leaving a surprised Gray and a sad Juvia in the living room.

* * *

><p>The next morning was bright and refreshing. The sunlight glowed off of the yellow kitchen walls as Gray was sitting on one of the chairs eating his favorite cereal, without a shirt. Apparently, he and Lucy shared favoritism towards <span>Very Berry Clusters<span>. Lucy came into the kitchen already dressed in her uniform - which consisted of a knee-length black and white pleated skirt, a white sailor shirt with a dusk green tie, a pair of black dress shoes, and knee-length light grey socks. She looked at Gray and her eyes widened before she turned around while blushing a little.

"Gray Fullbuster, you better put on a shirt right now!" Lucy said in a menacing tone. Gray looks down at his chest to find the shirt that he remembered falling asleep in gone. He hastily put down his bowl of cereal and raced passed Lucy. Screaming something like 'Dammit, not again!' Juvia came into the kitchen a moment later giggling with a blushing red face.

"Juvia will never get used to that." Juvia said fangirling. Lucy just rolled her eyes as she took an orange from the fruit bowl.

"I'll eat this on my way, I have to leave right now or I'm going to be late. See ya!" Lucy said as she gave Juvia a quick hug before she burst out the door. Gray came back a few minutes later, luckily with a shirt on.

"Where's Lucy?" He asked as he picked up his cereal and started eating again.

"She left a few minutes ago because she said that she would be late if she didn't." Juvia said. She hesitated before saying, "She acted like nothing happened last night. Juvia hope we didn't hurt her feelings." She says with a downcast expression. Gray ran a hand through his spiky raven locks and gave a deep sigh. He didn't mean to offend her in any way, but judging by the way she was acting, she seemed to be over it.

"Yeah, I don't want to upset her." Gray said.

"Hey, Juvia is going to hang out with Erza-san today. Would Gray-sama like to come?" Juvia asked.

Gray smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I would love to, but I can't today. I'm going to go visit Natsu. That idiot really needs me right now." Gray said while looking straight into her eyes. Juvia nodded in understanding before going to get ready. Gray just sat back down in the Victorian- style chair and finished off the milk in his bowl before putting it in the sink. He looked out the window to see that it was a fairly cold day with a cloudy sky. Gray wondered why God made such a gloomy color. He wondered why God made the air cold, even though it was his favorite type of weather.

He wondered why God made his best friend suffer.

**Hi everyone! I really hope you enjoyed that chapter. Don't forget to review! Remember, all criticism is welcome! **

**~RamsomeNote**


	3. Too Troublesome!

**Hello everyone, thanks for tuning in to the story. I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL! If I did, then I would make this happen and I wouldn't be on Fanfiction.**

Gray was walking down the street of Magnolia when he came across the place he wanted to visit. Natsu's house. He knew that Natsu wouldn't get up to get the door, so he just let himself in using his spare key.

When he opened the door, he saw that the room was a complete mess. There was dust everywhere and some of the furniture was flipped over. Gray stared at the house in shock. Yes, Natsu was no clean freak, but at least he had decent hygiene. He heard the kitchen door creek open. _God, I need to get that fixed. _Standing in the doorway was Natsu.

And, dear God, did he look horrible.

His pink fluff of hair was frizzed up and tinged a darker color. There dark bags under his eyes, making him look like an insomniac. His clothes were crumpled and didn't look like they had been washed for days. Didn't smell like it either. He was very muscular and tan, but he looked skinnier than usual, signifying to Gray that he hasn't been eating.

Natsu shot him a grim smile. "Hey Gray, how've you been?" He said in a hoarse voice. Gray just looked at him. Gray left him alone for _one week_ and this is what he made of himself? He looked like a total wreck. This isn't his best friend and rival who he used to butt heads with all the time. This was a completely different person than the dense idiot that he knew.

"I've been fine. I see you haven't, though." Gray said looking around.

"I guess I didn't have time to really clean up." Natsu said as he put one of his chairs in its proper place. When he sat on it, a cloud of dust erupted from the cushion, causing both Gray and Natsu to cough.

"Come on, Fire Balls. I'm going to head down to the park. I bet I can beat you at some one-on-one basketball." Gray said, trying to get his friend back to his old self.

"I'm sure you can." Natsu said. Gray gave an exasperated sigh. "I would rather just stay home and think about life."

"You have been thinking about life for three WEEKS!" Gray shouted. Natsu stared at him, his eyes dull and emotionless. No fire, no will to fight, what-so-ever.

"I need a bit more time. I feel very safe in my house. And I have Happy to comfort me." Happy was a stuffed blue cat that Lisanna got him. Natsu pulled it out and started stroking the head while looking distant. It was a plush toy for God's sake!

Gray rubbed his temples. "You need help." He said simply. Gray spent the rest of the day trying to get Natsu outside, but he was just acting like a stubborn child. _I should have gone with Juvia. _Gray thought.

* * *

><p>Juvia was running after Erza who was running after a security guard that took the last piece of strawberry cake at her favorite café.<p>

"Erza-san, you need to stop." Juvia yelled as she was panting from running. She's a swimmer, not a sprinter.

"GET BACK HERE YOU CAKE THIEF!" Erza screamed as the security guard started to run faster, half of the cake already in his mouth.

_Juvia should have gone with Gray-sama. _Juvia thought while sweat dropping.

* * *

><p>"God Natsu, you have to get out of here. This place is making you more depressed than you already are." Gray said as he tried to convince his friend to get outside. But Natsu was too busy staring at a picture of him and Lisanna at an amusement park.<p>

"Maybe this was just one huge misunderstanding." Natsu said, trying to think of the best possible situation.

"Natsu, if you remember correctly, she had _him _pushed up against the wall when they lip locked." Gray shouted at him. He was getting fed up with this. This idiot just wouldn't let go. "I was with you when it happened. When she looked at us, she didn't look like she held the slightest bit of remorse."

"Stop…"

"I bet she didn't. All she ever did was feed off of your money. She made you buy so many things for her; I'm surprised you aren't broke."

"I said stop." Natsu pleaded.

"She would always come whine to you even…" Gray couldn't finish his sentence before a nasty punch hit his stomach, sending him to the ground. Gray sat himself up, clutching his stomach Instead of being angry, he inwardly smiled. He walked up to Natsu and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's the Flame brain I know."

"Whatever … Ice princess." Natsu said as he slowly moved back to his couch to sulk again. For a very small moment, Gray saw the old Natsu, the guy who basically became a brother to him. However, that was only for a moment, for he was starting to stroke Happy's blue fur again.

"Come on Natsu, you need to get outside, feel the wind on your face!" Gray moved over to open Natsu's curtains. When rays of sunlight shot through the window, Natsu acted like a vampire and quickly threw a blanket over his head.

"Gray! Close them! It burns!" Natsu's muffled shout came from under the blankets. Gray just shook his head in pity for this guy.

"Well you have to get out of the house sometime. I don't want you looking like _that_ on our first day of college." Gray said.

"College is in a week, this is now." Natsu said as he exposed his face from under the blankets.

"Ugh! What the hell is it going to take you to get out of here?" Gray asked, unconsciously stripping off his shirt. Usually, Natsu would have yelled at him to stop stripping at his house, but Natsu just looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and turned back to Happy.

That plush doll was cute, but Gray wanted to burn it. **(No offence, I love Happy. Gray isn't really going to burn it though). **

Natsu didn't even respond to his question, he just looked very distant. Gray suddenly snapped. "Okay, fine! That's it! I'm not going to allow you to waste your life living in darkness. Tomorrow, we are going to see a movie, and you are going to be there, even if I have to threaten you my nun chucks."

"Gray, I really don't want to…" Natsu started in a hoarse voice.

"NO! I'm coming at eleven! If you don't get dressed and ready by then, I will _not_ hesitate to call Erza and drag you out." Before Natsu could respond, Gray picked up his shirt and slammed the front door shut.

_Tomorrow is going to be hell._ Natsu thought.

**I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. I know I haven't been updating very frequently, but I have some school stuff going on so I couldn't. Review please. Remember, all criticism is welcome! Ja ne!**

**~RansomeNote**


	4. Magnolia High and the Movies

**Yes, I know it has been very slow lately, but I assure you that the romance will come. I'm sorry to all those people who like fast romances, but I'm not that kind of person. I don't like the hate-to-love relationship either. I like the best friends-to-lovers relationship.**

**Anyway, Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, the genius that inspired me to write this. K, now on with the story. **

Gray shot out of bed at nine in the morning to find his girlfriend making breakfast and Lucy not there. He knew she was at school, so he decided to leave a note for her.

_Hey Lucy,_

_Juvia and I are going out to watch a movie and then going to the orientation at two. We'll be back around four, if not later. K bye!_

_Gray and Juvia_

Gray left the note in Lucy's room and went to Juvia in the kitchen. "Hey Juvia, can you come with Natsu and I to the movies? There is no way in heck I'm going to stay with him alone. We can go to orientation right afterwards." Gray said with a very hopeful look in his eyes. Juvia sighed and nodded.

"Fine, but is it okay if Juvia brings Erza-san and Gajeel-san, also?" Juvia asked.

"Of course, the more the merrier." Gray leaned into Juvia. "With Erza there, I think Natsu will be too scared to be depressed." Juvia giggled and finished making the last of the pancakes, which Gray ate in almost no time at all. The rest of the two hours was spent getting ready for the movies. Gray told her that he wanted to see an action movie, but Juvia debated that they should see a sappy romance. They both decided that they would just watch a comedy: Dumb and Dumber To.( **I want to see this so bad, it isn't funny**)

~At Magnolia High~

Lucy was taking videos of the people around her school during lunch. There were so many different types of people and they all had different interests. Lucy wasn't very interactive with people and was content with only having a few friends and filming other people. Actually, the only friend she really has is Levy, who was a social bookworm that is friends with lots of people. However, because Gray and Juvia are there, she has a way to better interact with people.

"The human race has discovered many different ways of entertaining themselves." Lucy said into her camera. "One way includes sports." She pointed the camera and zoomed in on some guys passing around the football in the quad. "Other ways include art." She turned the camera and zoomed into a girl that was playing the trumpet and her friend that seemed to be painting a portrait of her.

"Some people find their happiness in eating." She walks up to a boy that she sits next to in her French class. "Tell me Warren, what kind of pizza are you eating?" Warren looks up at Lucy and smiles. He and Lucy aren't really friends, more like acquaintances.

"Cheese, peperoni, sausage, and chocolate covered pineapple." He answered. Lucy walked away and turned the camera back to her.

"Ew. Some ways are more human than others." Lucy said with a disgusted look on her face into the camera. Suddenly, she was knocked down, her camera going with her. Laughing next to her, the culprit who knocked her down was her best friend Levy.

"Hey Lu-chan, what'cha doing?" Levy said as she and Lucy got up off the ground.

"Just taking videos, as usual." Lucy said. Levy and Lucy spent the rest of their lunch talking about different classes. Levy changed the topic to Lucy's novel, and whined when Lucy told her that she couldn't read it until she was done. The bell rang and the two of them went their separate ways. Levy went to AP Anatomy, and Lucy went to Video Production, tied with Honors English for being her favorite class. The class was only made up of seven people, none of which Lucy was close with.

"Okay class," said Mr. Yarunaka, "we will be starting a new project today, and it will be due next Thursday. Come to the front of the class to pick your topics." He said as he motioned to a tin can that had little slips of pale orange paper inside. Lucy was the second to last to reach the front of the classroom, so she had a pick of the last two topics left. She reached her hand inside the tin can and pulled out one of the slips of orange paper.

On the paper said '_Highlight a special cause or foundation that you relate to.'_

She had some major brainstorming to do, because everything she does in video production has to be the best it could be. She spent the rest of the period on the computers researching different foundations, and got down a few ideas. _A foundation that connects with me, huh? _Lucy thought.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. She decided that Gray and Juvia probably wouldn't need her home right now and walked to the park that was right next to her school.

It was also right next to Fairy Tail University.

* * *

><p>"Hahahahaha!" Gray and Gajeel couldn't stop laughing their asses off, and even Natsu had an amused look in his eyes. Erza was smiling and Juvia was daydreaming because of Gray's 'handsome' laugh.<p>

"Best movie of the year!" Gajeel said as he took another bite out of the popcorn that all five of the college students were sharing. By sharing, it meant that it was mostly Gray and Gajeel hogging all of it.

"So Natsu, what did you think?" Erza asked. Natsu looked at her and gave her a crooked smile, even though his eyes showed amusement. For a second, she thought she saw the old Natsu before his eyes were torn away from her and started to focus on the ground.

"It was cool." Was his only answer. Gray and Gajeel let out an exasperated sigh. Juvia decided to change to subject.

"Come on everyone, we have to get to Fairy Tail before the orientation starts." She said as she started to drag Gray with Erza walking beside her. Gajeel was behind Natsu, so he wouldn't fall behind.

The five of them passed through the park, which wasn't a very good thing. This was the place where Natsu first asked Lisanna to be his girlfriend. Natsu starts to have painful memories of when he saw her kiss Bixlow, and he wasn't watching where he was going. He accidentally bumped into someone and knocked them both down. Natsu's reflexes kicked in and spun around so that he would take the fall for the person.

The first thing he saw was the golden hair that was glowing on the sunlight.

**I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Don't forget to review. All criticism is welcome! **

**~RansomeNote**


	5. Tormenting Tour

**Hi everyone, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It might be a little slow, but there is a lot of important information.**

**Fairy Tail belongs to the genius mind of Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

><p>Lucy walked around Magnolia Park in deep thought. The park's name fits it, because all around the park, there were Magnolia trees. They only had a few flowers and were losing their leaves because it was October. The park was rectangular with a perimeter of concrete and the rest being fresh grass. At the edges of each side, there was a path leading out of the park. Lucy looked to her right and saw young children trying to climb the trees and doing little cartwheels.<p>

_I wish I had a childhood like that._ Lucy thought. She sighed and looked at the ground, not noticing where she was going. She suddenly felt someone bump into her and she was about to hit the ground because their weight overpowered hers. She felt the person spin around so that they would take the fall for her and they both fell to the ground. She hit a toned chest, so she assumed it was a guy.

Her eyes slowly opened to find a pair of gorgeous onyx eyes staring into her doe brown ones. He was very muscular, toned and had…PINK hair? She didn't know why, but it looked very sexy on him. She stared into his eyes again, they looked very beautiful, but they also looked so sad.

They both stared at each other wide-eyed. She felt her cheeks starting to heat up and quickly jumped off of him. "I'm _so _sorry. I didn't mean to knock you down." Lucy said with a concerned expression as she held out a hand to help him up. He took her hand and she pulled him up, and for a second, they both felt something very warm inside of them. Natsu hadn't felt like this since when he started dating Lisanna.

"Don't worry. Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?" Natsu asked. Lucy shook her head and smiled at him.

"NATSU, WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU?!" Natsu heard Gajeel and Gray yell simultaneously. They both came running around the corner, with Juvia and Erza not far behind.

"Lucy/Lucy-san?" Gray and Juvia asked. They looked at her in confusion as to why she was standing with their friend. Natsu looked between them.

"You three know each other?" Natsu asked. Gray and Juvia nodded while walking over to Lucy. Gray went behind her and put his hands on both her shoulders and Juvia gave her a side hug.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Lucy Heartfilia. We are staying with her while we go to college. Lucy, this is Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu." Gray said pointing to each of his friends. Lucy waved at them.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." She said looking at each person, but her eyes training on Natsu for a few more seconds than the rest. Nobody caught this but Natsu, who smiled back to her and gave her a little nod of his head.

"A pleasure to meet you also. I'm Erza Scarlet." The scarlet haired beauty named Erza said. She held out her hand for Lucy to take, and Lucy accepted it with no hesitation. The gruff looking man with multiple piercings went up to her and gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"Gajeel Redfox." He said. Lucy had to admit that he was a little intimidating, but he seemed nice enough.

"Oh shit, we're going to be late." Gray said, running a hand through his hair.

"We better get going, I'm sure they won't tolerate tardiness." Erza said. The rest of the four nodded, said bye to Lucy and left, except for Natsu.

"I guess I'll see you around, then?" Natsu asked. Lucy stared at him in confusion, but then realized that since Gray and Juvia were staying at her house, they were welcome to bring friends if they wanted to.

"Sure." Lucy said. She suddenly felt the urge to ruffle his pink hair, but decided against it. _What the hell are you thinking Lucy? _Lucy internally scolded herself. "I should get back home. I have a ton of homework to do." Lucy said.

"Okay, later." Natsu said as he waved, with a slight look of disappointment on his features. Lucy didn't know why, but she felt kind of guilty.

"Bye. Tell Gray and Juvia that dinner is at 6:30. You are welcome to join us if you would like to." Lucy said, looking at the ground in embarrassment. Natsu slightly nodded his head.

"I'll think about it." He said while he smiled, genuinely, before he took off down the road to catch up with his friends. Lucy didn't know why, but she suddenly felt so cold after he left.

What the two of them didn't know was that Gray saw the whole thing. He also saw Natsu smile for the first time in three weeks.

* * *

><p>~At the Fairy Tail orientation~<p>

Many college freshmen were crowding the auditorium. All of them looked really excited. People thought college was a place where you could relax and not worry about anything.

**College was a hell of a lot to worry about. **

The auditorium was grand in everyone's eyes. Even with all of the people there, there was still room. The floor was made of alternating white and black marble tiles. The roof was made of glass with a chandelier that looked like it was made of silver and bronze hung from the ceiling, with small candles in the holders. The walls were carvings of beautiful hieroglyphics in sandstone and in front of the walls were Celtic-style columns. At the end of the large auditorium was a huge stage, which would probably be perfect for any play the school would produce. In all, it looked like a grand palace.

The five teens/young adults took seats at the front of the stage. When they did, they saw a little old man walk up to the podium. A _really_ little old man. _Is it even possible to be that short? _Gray asked himself. He was sure that many other people were thinking the same thing.

"Hello, young brats!" He starts with a wide smile. "It is my sincere pleasure to welcome you to Fairy Tail. Here, we treat each other like family…. No, we **are** family. We stick up for each other when times get tough, and we comfort each other when our nakama is sad. I am Makarov, your headmaster." For ten more minutes, the old man talked, and then he let the superiors step in and take groups of students on tours.

Natsu listened to Makarov's speech intently, but once the tour started, he looked like he was barely paying attention. He, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, and Erza were being shown around with a couple other students.

The campus was beautiful. It gave a medieval look with towering castles for buildings and flags with the Fairy Tail symbol on it. The gardens were lush and green with many trees to sit under. There was a swimming pool that Juvia was drawn to immediately, and Gray had to drag her away from jumping in and taking laps.

The tour was going great, but Natsu was just looking around with a bored expression. He abruptly stops when he sees a flash of silver hair.

It was his old, cheating girlfriend, Lisanna Strauss.

Her hair had grown out a bit longer and even Natsu had to admit that she looked very pretty. Most guys drooled over her, and when Natsu still had his hot-blooded temper, he used to punch every guy that looked at her the wrong way.

Gray, who wasn't listening to the rant that Erza was giving him for stripping off his shirt in the middle of the tour, gave a side glance to Natsu. He looked completely focused, like cat trying to catch a mouse. Gray's dusky eyes traveled to where Natsu was looking and looked directly at the side head of the person who broke his best friend's heart, ripped it to pieces, and stomped on it.

Gray saw that Natsu wanted to run over to her, and ask her about the situation. He looked like he wanted a hug and all that other romantic crap that couples do. At the same time, Natsu looked like he wanted to avoid her, as if he was afraid of what she would say.

Gray hushed the rant from Erza and pointed towards Lisanna, who Erza gave a deadly glare to. Lisanna, finally looking in their direction, tried to run over to Natsu, looking like she was about to hug him, but Gray and Gajeel got in the way and held her back. "Let me through!" Lisanna screamed.

"Leave Ashy alone, witch!" Gajeel yelled. Gray swore to God he thought he felt a small earthquake. Behind them, Erza was holding out an arm in an effort to protect Natsu.

"Let me go! I'm his girlfriend; I have a right to see him." _This brat ain't givin' up. _Gajeel thought. "Whatever, I don't need permission from you." Lisanna started to blink innocently at Natsu. "Natsu, honey, come here." Lisanna said, spreading her arms out, expecting him to come over to her in an instant. She found it surprising that he hesitated. He was thinking if he should go over to her or not, and she was getting irritated. She snapped her fingers and pointed to herself. "Natsu, now!" Lisanna growled.

Natsu, not wanting to face any wrath and not wanting to give up the chance to be with her again, slowly stepped over, but was stopped by Juvia, while Erza yelled, "He isn't your boyfriend anymore. Don't give him any crap. Just leave him alone!" Erza yelled. Lisanna suddenly shrank back, even when she and Natsu were dating, Lisanna never wanted to be friends with Erza truthfully because she always scared her.

Erza grabbed Natsu's arm and started to drag him away, with Gray and Gajeel trailing behind them. Juvia gave one last glare before following her boyfriend. The tour guide watched the whole scene with wide eyes, but shook it off, knowing it was none of his business. The group started off on the tour again, leaving a shocked/angry Lisanna just standing there.

_Just you wait Natsu, I _will_ get what I want. I always do. _She thought before she stalked off to join her group, who didn't bother to ask what happened.

**I hope you liked that! Remember to review and I'll update soon!**

**~RansomeNote**


	6. Thai food delivery

Natsu's senses were completely blocked. Even though he knew he would have a horrible time on the first day because he didn't pay attention, he didn't care. There was a stinging feeling inside his chest, and he felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Over here is the pharmacology facility…" said the tour guide. It was about the only thing that he heard, because Gray nudged him to pay attention. Gray hoped that Natsu's friends had classes with him, otherwise he's screwed.

"That concludes our tour. We will see you next week on Tuesday." said the college junior as he walked off in the opposite direction.

"Dang, I thought that would never end." The heavily pierced man said. Gajeel went over to a bench a literally plopped his ass down on it before passing out. Everyone shook their heads at him. Natsu started to feel a little light headed, like he was about to end up passing out. Gray and Juvia saw this, and quickly caught him as he fell back.

"I think that the mental stress that the whore put on him was too much. We should get him something to eat and let him get some rest." Erza said. Gray and Juvia nodded. The word food woke Gajeel up, and caused Gray to whip out his cell phone. He dialed a number before pressing the talk button.

"Hi Lucy."

"_Gray, what's up? You sound worried." _Lucy responded.

"I am a little. Hey, I was wondering if I could bring a few of my friends over to eat with us. You know, the ones you met today." Gray said. Everyone looked at each other, they were surprised by the change in plans.

"_I would be delighted to have them over. I'm sorry, but I'm lazy, so I'm just ordering take-out from the Thai place down the road. You don't mind, do you?"_

"Nah, it's cool. We'll see you at home. Bye Lucy. Oh, wait! Make sure you buy a lot! Some of our friends eat like hungry wolves." Gray said, looking at Gajeel. Lucy responded with a 'fine' and Gray shut off his phone. Everyone stares at him, waiting for him to explain himself. "Lucy said that it was fine if we had friends over, and her house is closest to the University, so why not go there?" Gray said nonchalantly as he shrugged.

"But, will Lucy-san mind we are making her buy so much food. Juvia worries that we have asked too much." Juvia said while looking at her feet.

"We can just pay her back, she's already done a lot for us." Gray said while motioning a taxi. Natsu didn't even realize that Gray had already dragged him onto the sidewalk of the road. The taxis in Magnolia are big, so all five of them were able to fit in easily. Natsu and Gajeel needed their own space because of their motion sickness. No matter how depressed Natsu is feeling, he will probably never get over his motion sickness.

"You boys need to man up." Erza said, knocking both of them out and roughly placing their heads on her lap.

"Thank God I don't have motion sickness." Gray whispered to Juvia. Juvia giggled and placed her head on his shoulder, to which he wrapped an arm around hers. The taxi driver arrived at Lucy's house and Gray paid before they got out of the car. Erza was carrying both Natsu and Gajeel over her shoulders. "Why the hell did I have to pay?" Gray asked as he ruffled his hair. Erza turned around and gave him a deathly glare.

"These two are barely capable of standing up, your girlfriend obviously doesn't want to pay, and do you really want me to cough up my money?" Erza asked. Gray shivered and quickly shook his head. Juvia took out her house key that Lucy gave to her and opened the door. The three that could walk three that could walk stepped inside, and Erza was filled with a content sensation of warmth. Lucy came out the kitchen door and saw both Natsu and Gajeel slung over Erza's shoulders.

"Dear God, what happened?" Lucy asked with a worried expression as she motioned Erza to put them on the couches. Erza did so, but in the roughest way possible.

"Motion sickness." Erza explained briefly. Lucy gave a curt nod before taking some blankets and placing them over Gajeel and Natsu. Natsu grumbled and looked very uncomfortable, so on instinct, Lucy started to run her fingers through his spiky pink locks. Natsu sighed in content before nuzzling his head into her hand with a smile on his face. Lucy's cheeks started to heat up, but no one noticed.

"Juvia noticed that you are very gentle, Lucy-san." Juvia said with a smile on her face. Lucy froze and gave an awkward smile before releasing her hand from Natsu's hair and disappearing into the kitchen.

_"… you are very gentle Lucy-san." _Juvia's words repeated in her head before a new sentence came up. She leaned over the sink and grabbed her head in agony, but didn't let a sound escape her mouth."

_"Be more careful, you insolent child!" _A voice yelled in her head. She felt something warm and wet stream down her face. She hesitantly reached a hand up to find her face stained with moist salt water. She was crying, and she didn't even know it. She quickly shook her head and splashed some water on her face, hoping to rid of the streaks of dried water. When she found herself presentable, she went out to join the others. Natsu and Gajeel had already woken up and were talking with the others. Before she could say anything, the doorbell rang. She quickly went to get it and saw a very familiar face. _Oh my God!_ Lucy thought.

"Did someone order Thai food, princess?" The man with wild orange hair asked with a playboy smirk. Everybody looked to see who it was.

"Loke!" Lucy yelled as she latched onto his neck. He tightened his arms around her also.

"Loke!?" The other five people exclaimed. They were staring at him in shock.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know this is a little shorter than the others. Same message, review in the comments section below! Thanks!<strong>

**~RansomeNote**


	7. A Long-time Friend

**Fairy Tail belongs to the genius that is Hiro Mashima.**

"Loke!?" The five college students exclaimed, causing Loke and Lucy to break from their hug. Loke stared at the rest of Lucy's company in shock. Lucy looked between them.

"You guys are acquainted?" Lucy asked, using her top-notch vocabulary. They all nodded, still shocked to see each other there. Gajeel was the first to step up and speak.

"Never thought I would see you here, pussy-cat." Gajeel said with a smirk.

"I could say the same Metal head." Loke said with an equally powerful smirk. He put the package of food on Lucy's table and put his arm around her shoulders, which, surprisingly, made Natsu a little uncomfortable. "Now, would you mind telling me this fairy tale of how you are in my princess's abode?" Loke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cut the gentleman crap man!" Gray said getting up from the recliner chair. Loke detached his arm from around Lucy and gave Gray a man quick man hug, with a slight comment from Gajeel drawing out the word, 'Gaaayyyy'. Gray and Loke rolled their eyes, Gajeel burst out laughing, Juvia chuckled, Erza shook her head with a huge smile, and even Natsu, in his depressed state, managed to smile.

This is why he was happy that he had friends.

"No seriously man, what are you doing here?" Loke asked, now with a serious face. Lucy took the chance to put her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Juvia and Gray are living with me now." Lucy explained. "They are staying with me while they go to college."

Loke looked at Gray and got in his face. "You are lucky you have a girlfriend, otherwise I would beat you to a pulp." Loke said, seething. _Damn, Lucy must mean a lot to him. _Gray thought. Erza had to restrain Juvia from jumping on Loke for insulting Gray. Juvia and Loke may be friends, but she won't let anybody get away with insulting her man.

"Loke…play nice." Lucy said hesitantly, and Loke obliged into getting out of Gray's face. Gray was muttering something about 'personal space'. Loke just sighed and turned his attention back to Lucy.

"So how have you been, princess?" Loke asked, getting down on one knee while holding her hand. She quickly pulled her hand away.

"Haven't I told you to stop calling me that? I'm no princess!" Lucy exclaimed with a blushing face. For an unknown reason, this scene wanted to make Natsu puke.

Loke sighed and stood up, brushing himself off. He was fully aware that Lucy didn't like to stand out in crowds and didn't like being called someone that everyone should admire. She was never someone who would stand out, but she doesn't shy away from people either. It's like she's just trying not to gain too much attention. Nobody really needs to know her, but the few people that do love her a lot.

"One thousand pardons, my princess. I was so infatuated by your beauty that I completely forgot." Loke said, inwardly smirking. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Well, it must be easy to forget when you haven't seen me in so long." Lucy said with a raised eyebrow. She suddenly punched his arm, not very hard, but not too soft either. "You lost contact with me and didn't call me for a freaking year, bastard!" Everyone was surprised by Lucy's outburst, and Loke visibly grimaced. He had an ashamed look on his face while putting his head down.

"I know, I'm sorry, Lucy. But I'm here now?" Loke's statement turned out to be more of a question as he spread his arms for a hug. Lucy sighed deeply and wrapped her arms around his torso, while Loke rested his chin on her head.

Natsu felt really uncomfortable now. Suddenly, his stomach growled. _Stomach, I have never loved you more!_ Natsu said internally. All of his friends laughed, and he felt his cheeks starting to heat up. He didn't know when he became such a pansy, but he just couldn't help it with the mood he was in after the break up.

Lucy giggled at her new friend's stomach. "It's time to eat, the food will get cold." Lucy said with a smile.

Loke nodded. "I need to get back to work anyway. I started to work at the little Thai restaurant down the street. Call me if you need anything. Later guys, see you at school." Loke waved at the others and said as he took off out the door. Lucy closed the door behind her to find the package of food that was supposed to be on the table, already gone.

Gajeel had taken the grub to the kitchen, and started opening the package to take the contents out. His friend was depressed, and he didn't need him to get anorexia on top of that.

The rest of the people in the house sighed, as they walked into the kitchen. Gray and Juvia noticed that there were three more chairs of the same design pulled up to the table. Lucy, almost like she was reading their thoughts, spoke up.

"I pulled out three extra chairs from storage because you told me that your friends were coming over." Lucy explained. She walked over to where Gajeel was and pulled out some fancy porcelain plates and started to set the table, while Natsu and Gajeel were inhaling the food. She took the food and set it up in the middle of the table. Everything looked absolutely delicious. There were Thai noodles with spicy peanut sauce, Thai zucchini pan seared and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, and a spicy chicken curry with lemon. Everybody sat down with a content look as they smelled the delicious aroma. Gray and Gajeel were busy chowing down on their food. Lucy noticed that Natsu looked a little hesitant, and she also saw Gray give him a deathly glare, basically saying, _If you don't eat, I will forcefully shove that food down your throat._ Natsu started to eat after that.

They were engaged in small talk before the topic of Loke came up. Erza asked Lucy how she knew him. "Well, I've known him since I was a child. He was about the only kid around while I was growing up. His mother worked as a maid for our family, and she was an amazing woman. Loke and I talked a lot, and even when he couldn't see me, he contacted me always. Two months before I moved away from my dad's house, I lost contact with him because he had important business to take care of, and I didn't see him after that." Lucy said with a downcast expression.

There were many questions going through Natsu's head. _They've known each other for that long? Lucy had maids? Where are her parents? Why did she move away from her dad's house? How close are they? Wait! Why do I care? _Natsu thought, shaking his head slightly. He realized that it wasn't a very good time to ask, because she looked like she didn't want to talk about it.

"How about you guys? How do you know Loke?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"That playboy's been our friend for years. At first we thought he was a total douche, but we actually found out that he is a pretty nice guy. We met him in like, sixth, seventh grade." Gajeel explained in a gruff voice. Lucy nodded. It was true, Loke was quite the womanizer.

The rest of the night was spent getting to know her roommate's friends, also sharing past experiences and stories. Lucy noticed that Natsu talked the least, even though Gray's stories portrayed him as a fiery hot-head. Lucy wondered what was wrong, but she didn't want to ask him, afraid that she might his feelings or something of the sort.

When dinner was over, she picked up the plates, and was surprised that Natsu offered to help her. They both cleaned up the table, while saying bye to Erza and Gajeel. Juvia decided to turn in for the night. And Gray…

He was right outside the kitchen window listening to their conversation. (**Sly guy**)

Natsu and Lucy cleaned the dishes in a comfortable silence. That was until their hands both reached out for the sponge, and their hands touched.

Natsu always knew that he had abnormal body heat, so he was barely ever cold, but his felt a hot flash go through his body as his hand made contact with hers. They both turned to look at each other, with small blushes on their faces. Gray, who was peeping in on them, couldn't help a sly smirk that worked its way onto his face. They stayed like this for a few moments, neither of them saying a word.

Lucy started to laugh nervously, "Um, you can have it." Lucy said as she hid her face in her golden bangs. Natsu couldn't help but think she was adorable.

"Thank you." Natsu said as he took the sponge from her hand. Lucy thought that if she was going to ask, she should do it now. "Is everything alright, Lucy? You seem very distant." Natsu asked with a worried expression. Lucy shook her head, and Natsu gave her a gentle nudge, as if they had been best friends for years.

"Well, I was just wondering why you were so quiet during dinner. I hope I didn't say anything weird, or something." She started to mumble the last part. Natsu gave a slight chuckle.

"I wasn't mad or anything. I was just thinking about a lot of things." Natsu said. Lucy felt horrible, but decided against the little voice screaming in her head to drop the conversation.

"I'm sorry if I'm prying, but what kind of things?" Lucy asked, fully aware that he might not answer. He propped himself onto the counter and motioned her to do the same. She did so in one fluid motion, as she had done so many times before. She was sitting right next to him and he started his explanation.

"Gray and I caught my girlfriend cheating on me." Lucy gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "This was three weeks ago. I had been dating her for 3 years now, and I thought we had a stable relationship. I loved her." Natsu muttered the last part. Lucy, feeling a bit awkward, gave him a side hug, as if to reassure him that she was there. He pulled her into a real hug and laid his head on her shoulder. Lucy started to blush, but she didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry I'm dumping this all on you." Natsu said as he released her from the hug. He barely knew the girl, but he felt like he could trust her. "This may sound weird, but I feel like I can trust you with anything, as if you have been my friend for my whole life." Natsu said, averting her eyes.

"This may sound weird also," Lucy said as she turned to face him. This time he looked up. "The feelings are mutual." Lucy said with a big smile.

Something shocking inside Natsu sparked, and he felt an abundance of warmth while staring into her chocolate doe eyes. He had never felt this good in weeks.

Natsu smiled.

That smile grew bigger. And finally turned into a grin. This girl...actually made Natsu smile.

Gray would never let anyone see this, not even his own girlfriend, but his face started to get wet as he watched this.

Gray started to cry.

**Well, I hoped you liked that. Please review! Also, Gray wasn't full out crying, he just shed a few tears. Anyway, Ja ne.**

**~RansomeNote**


	8. Friday Plans

Natsu left after an hour after dinner because he and Lucy were talking the whole time. For some reason, she made him feel something that he hadn't felt in the past three weeks.

Happiness.

Natsu felt very happy around the blonde high schooler. Gray knew deep in his heart that Natsu was still hurting a lot, but he actually smiles with Lucy, a girl he barely knows. Gray thought of something sneaky.

Because he was the best friend of this depressed pyro, he was obligated to do this.

When Lucy closed the door after saying goodbye, Natsu made his way back to his house. Gray noticed that his shoulders slumped a bit, as if he was going back to his old state. Gray threw open the door and ran to catch up with Natsu. "Yo, Natsu!"

Natsu turned around to see Gray behind him. "What do you want, stripper?" Natsu's voice was still soft, but Gray could hear a little bit more fire come into the question. It made Gray inwardly smile.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out on Friday. Maybe at… four o'clock?" Gray asked. "I mean, come on. This is our last Friday as free men, no worries about crap before we get crap dumped on us. You in?" Gray asked, _really _hoping he would say yes.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that." Natsu said after a few seconds of thinking. It was true, it was the last week until they were off to college, might as well use it wisely.

"Awesome. See you then!" Gray fist bumped Natsu and walked back into Lucy's house. He wanted to check up on his girlfriend before he went to bed. He knocked and opened the door to find her reading one of her college textbooks about Anatomy. She blue locks were in a high ponytail and her navy eyes were skimming the pages. She looked up to see Gray standing in her doorway.

"Hey. I thought you were asleep." Gray said as he went to sit on the chair next to her bed.

"Juvia couldn't sleep, so she decided to read. You know reading makes Juvia fall asleep. What are you doing here, Gray-sama? N-not that there is anything wrong with that!" Juvia said quickly. Gray chuckled slightly and kissed her forehead.

"You're lucky. Your boyfriend is a genius!" Gray said with a slight smirk.

"Juvia already knew that, but what makes you a genius, Gray-sama?" Juvia asked.

"I just invited Natsu to hang out with me on Friday at four." Gray said, hoping she would catch on.

"But Juvia thought Gray-sama had a doctor's appointment at four. Aren't you busy at that time?" Juvia asked with a raised eyebrow. _Yup, she caught on_. Gray thought.

"Yes, I am indeed busy on Friday at that time," Gray said slowly as he leaned into Juvia's ear and whispered,

"But Lucy isn't." He said, his smirk growing wider.

* * *

><p>~Time Skip: Friday~<p>

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday went by really quickly for Lucy at school. There was nothing very exciting happening. There was one thing that was worrying her though.

She didn't know why, but she kept catching Gray smirking to himself. Especially today, Friday. She asked him if anything was wrong or if he was feeling sick, but he quickly denied her, never looking into her eyes, which got her very suspicious.

It was around 3:50 in the afternoon and Lucy was mopping the floor. Yup, this is what Lucy does on Fridays. She doesn't really mind. She really doesn't have anything else to do. She would call Levy or something, but Levy hangs out with her family every Friday and Saturday, and Sunday Lucy works a four hour shift in the morning at a food bank, stocking and packaging food. She goes at 6:15 and comes back at around 10:15 or 10:30. Her arms are sore and she doesn't want to really do anything. But she had to make money to pay the rent on her apartment somehow.

Lucy had just finished moping and it was about five minutes before four. She decided that she would change out of her workout clothes, which were a little sweaty because she was cleaning the house, to an oversized plain black tank and a pair of grey Bermuda shorts. She tied her hair into a low pony and put a white and dark green zebra strip plastic hairband to keep her bangs out of her face. When she finished dressing up, she heard a knock on the door, so she went to go answer it.

When she opened the door she found the pink-haired boy she met a few days ago standing there, wearing casual clothes and leaning against the doorframe. "Hey Natsu! What are you doing here?" Lucy asked.

"I was supposed to hang out with Gray today." Lucy nodded, making an 'o' shape with her mouth and let him in.

"Gray! Natsu's here!" Lucy called down the hall. Gray appeared in the hallway, already dressed and putting on a sorry look. _I better pull this off right._ Gray thought.

"I'm really sorry man, a doctor's appointment came up and I really can't miss it." Gray said. Natsu had a slightly disappointed expression on his face. Every time Gray asked him to hang out with him, Natsu declined because he was too depressed to do anything. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed hanging out with him.

"It's okay, I understand." Natsu said as he was about to excuse himself.

"But," Gray started as Natsu turned to look at him. "Lucy has nothing to do." Lucy looked at Gray in shock, her mouth agape. "You don't mind hanging out with Natsu in my place, do you Lucy?" Gray asked. _Please say no, please say no._

"No I don't mind at all." Lucy said with a bright grin while turning to Natsu. "Is it okay if I hang out with you? I completely understand if you don't want to." Lucy asked. Natsu smiled and nodded.

"I don't mind, either." Natsu said.

"Cool, I should go before my doctor throws a fit. Juvia is having a sleepover at Erza's house so she won't come back tonight. It will just be you and me tonight." Gray explained, looking over at Natsu to see him tense up slightly. He added the last part just to see a reaction, and he saw exactly what he wanted to see.

"Alright." Lucy said as Gray walked out the door. She and Natsu were standing there for a few seconds before Natsu spoke up.

"So… what do you want to do?" Natsu asked. Lucy put her finger to her chin. She didn't really have a lot of time to think about this. Suddenly, something popped into her head.

"Follow me!" Lucy said as she dragged Natsu out the door.

* * *

><p>~ At the place~<p>

"You're serious?" Natsu asked.

"Yup."

"Really?"

"Again, yes." Lucy answered.

"Huh," Natsu said. "I believe we are going to be really great friends."

"So do I." Lucy said as she handed him the fake gun. There were about five other random people holding fake guns too. "Let's play some laser tag." Lucy said grinning. Natsu grinned back.

Back in his freshman year in high school, he used to come here every Saturday with his friends to play laser tag. He was caught up with work, so he couldn't do it in the other years. A wave of nostalgia hit him like a brick.

The room turned dark, and the floor started to glow. Before Natsu could do anything, Lucy spun around and shot him. "Twenty seconds of disability." Lucy said.

"You are so going to get it, Heartfilia." Natsu said with a sly smile. Lucy just laughed. Ten seconds left.

"Just try and catch me, Dragneel." Lucy said as she took off further into the dimly lit room. Natsu's disability was up, and he took off after her, shooting kids and adults alike in the process. He went to the end of the room where he found Lucy doing the same thing. She was hiding behind one of the walls until she moved behind a tin can to take shelter before she disabled a ten-year old. Natsu took cover behind a wall, waiting to ambush her. She came out of her hiding spot and Natsu took action. Lucky for Lucy, she saw Natsu and dodged his laser from disabling her from her vest. Natsu grumbled and took the shot again, this one hitting her. "Dammit." She muttered and Natsu let out a low chuckle. The gong sounded, signaling that the game was over and that the next batch of people that were waiting in line had to go.

"I got 4600 points." Natsu said praising himself. That was a new high score for him.

"Dang, I got 4300 points." Lucy said. It was still pretty high. That was also the highest she's ever gotten. Natsu ruffled her hair slightly, and Lucy pushed his hand away, not rudely, but playfully. They returned their guns and their vests and then walked out of the laser tag area.

"Hey, how did you know I liked laser tag?" Natsu asked with a truly curious look in his eyes. Lucy just giggled.

"I didn't, I just guessed." Lucy said flashing a peace sign. This girl was boss.

"Then can I guess what you want to do next?" Lucy nodded. "Mini golf?" Natsu guessed

"Read my mind." Lucy said with a bright smile. She was internally surprised. She guessed it was just his instinct. They both walked to the mini golf course, located outside the laser tag building.

"Okay, let's go Luce." Natsu said. Lucy's eyebrow rose.

"Luce?"

"Yeah, it's my nickname for you. I thought it suited." Natsu explained nonchalantly.

Lucy tapped her chin with her pointer finger. "I've never had a nickname before, but I like it." Natsu grinned.

"You know, I was once known as the mini golf king." Natsu said as he paid the lady at the desk to get two golf balls and two putts.

"_Sure _you were." Lucy said rolling her eyes. "Say that once you beat me." Lucy said with a playful wink. It was _so _on.

* * *

><p>Lucy and Natsu were on the last course. So far, they were both tied. "Hey, I bet I can get a hole-in-one." Natsu said with a confident smirk. Lucy rolled her eyes.<p>

"What are we betting?" Lucy asked. Natsu tapped his chin.

"I have nothing on me, so how about bragging rights?" Natsu asked.

"Fair enough." Lucy said.

The course was to get the golf ball up a hill and into one of the slim slots in the windmill. The hill was steep and there were lots of boulders to hit, so it wasn't going to be easy to get a hole-in-one. The course was next to the main road, so the two of them could hear cars zooming passed and people's road rage.

Natsu was positioning himself to make the shot, when a car honked really loudly. Natsu had super hearing since he was born, so the car honk completely made him lose his balance. He swung and the golf ball flew and hit one of the blades of the windmill. The blade broke off and fell to the ground. Natsu grimaced and Lucy covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"HEY YOU TWO!" Natsu and Lucy turned around to find a security guard right behind them. Natsu knew him. He was just some random guy that dressed up as a security guard so he could get free candy from the snack shop. Natsu and his friends used to love messing with him. "GET OVER HERE!" The phony yelled. This guy wasn't really part of the law, so he had no authority to tell them what to do.

"_Shit._" Natsu muttered. He dropped his putt and grabbed Lucy's hand. "Come on, Luce. We're bailing out of here." Natsu started to run, with Lucy right behind him. Natsu didn't notice it yet, but he forgot about everything that happened over the past three weeks. There was no break up, no sadness.

It was just him and Lucy.

**I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Review and tell me what you thought. Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments section below. K, later.**

**~RansomeNote**


	9. Gene

That damn security guard was still chasing them down the street, but he was getting farther and farther away by the second. The two young adults weaved in and out through the crowd of people, screaming 'excuse me!' whenever they bumped into someone. Natsu was on the cross-country team throughout high school, and was the fastest runner. Lucy wasn't so bad at running either. She never liked sports or anything, but she was just a really fast runner.

Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, remembering why.

* * *

><p>~Flashback~<p>

_Lucy was at her old house, a mansion by the looks of it. Lucy was only fifteen years old and was supposed to be studying business like her father told her to at that time of day._

_Lucy didn't give a duck's ass._

_She was out with her horse, her only company when Loke wasn't around. He had bronze colored fur, with a chestnut brown mane and beautiful onyx eyes. Part of her father's plan for her was to make her a proper lady, and horse-back riding was required. It isn't like she minded, she had a great time horse-back riding and it gave her time to get out of that house. _

_Lucy didn't wear the beautiful dresses that she got in the mansion, but settled for black leather combat boots with laces, black riding pants, and a red velvet blazer with a white tank top under it. _

_She suddenly jumped off her horse, which caused him to look at her. "Say Gene," the horse perked up hearing his name. "How about we have a race? Whoever can get to the end of the meadow first," she points to the end of the meadow she was in which was about thirty yards away. "wins." She ended with a smile. She didn't know why but the horse seemed to understand her, getting into a racing position. Lucy mirrored his movements. She knew she was no match for a well-built horse, but she wanted to feel to wind on her face and exercise her muscles a bit before she goes back into the house she calls a prison. _

_"Ready?" Gene moved his eyes toward her to indicate that he was. "On your mark, get set, GO!" She and Gene started off sprinting. Even though her opponent was a full-grown horse, she was running only a little bit behind. She started to stress every muscle in her body to try to push herself forward._

_BOOM!_

_The sound of a gun shot through the air, and a second later, Gene fell onto his side, his head laying on the ground, and his eyes looking up at her painfully. _

_"GENE!" Lucy cried as she dropped on the ground him. He was bleeding badly, with a bullet in his upper right calf. She looked to see where the shot came from, and saw two men in the bushes, looking at her with astonished eyes. They must have thought Gene was a stray horse. They quickly picked up their muskets and ran deeper into the woods. Lucy turned her attention back to Gene, whose life was streaming away him. "Someone, please, help me!" She screamed into the air. She wasn't that far from the Heartfilia Estate, so she was sure that one of her gardeners or staff had heard her._

_She was right._

_Bursting through the trees was her butlers Capricorn and Cancer. "Cancer, get help!" Capricorn exclaimed at his fellow staff member. Cancer didn't think twice about taking off back into the brush to go fetch the veterinarian. Capricorn rushed over to where Lucy was, who was about to faint from the mental stress._

_~ A few hours later ~_

_Lucy was pacing around her bedroom, worrying about her horse. Gene had been a gift from her mother, and losing him would be like losing her all over again. _

_Cancer knocked and opened the door. "Gene is alright, ebi. You can go see him." Cancer said. The teen smiled as she ran over and hugged him, before taking off towards the stables, not caring if her father catches her running through the halls. _

_She bursted through the door of the stable to see her veterinarian, Sagittarius, kneeling beside Gene. Beside him were Capricorn and her maid Virgo, who had solemn looks on their faces. Lucy was confused by this; shouldn't they be happy that Gene is alive and well?_

_Lucy walked toward them, and they all looked at her, even Gene, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She saw Gene's calf in a bloody bandage and the bullet that pieced his skin in a bowl next to Sagittarius. "Is everything alright?" Lucy asked, worry crossing her features. Sagittarius looked into Lucy's eyes._

_"Moshi moshi, Lucy-sama. Gene will be alright. However, the bullet pierced one of his nerves, so he is permanently paralyzed in his hind legs now." Sagittarius said, not looking into her eyes at the last part of his sentence. Lucy stood there shocked, with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She made no attempt to hold them back and just let them fall before running over to Gene and hugging him around his neck._

_"I'm sorry, Gene. I'm so _so_ sorry!" Lucy cried. Lucy's staff found it a good time to leave her be. They saw that she didn't want to be around anyone besides her horse at this moment. She cried herself to sleep and ended up resting her head on Gene's abdomen, while just laid his head down, silently watching over her._

_Her father scolded her to no end after that, telling her that a proper lady would not sleep in the stables. She scoffed at her father, who didn't care about anything else other than money and turning her into a proper lady so she could get married and he could get _more _money. _

_A few months after she turned sixteen, Gene died. Lucy was devastated to no end, but her father remained indifferent about it, saying that she should just continue her studies and forget about that 'pathetic' horse. This death made Lucy realize something._

_She needed to get out of there, fast. _

_She had nothing to be here for. Gene was gone, Loke was out of her reach, and her mother was gone. Her father treated her poorly, but she still loved her staff. She wrote notes to every one of her staff, who she considered her friends, and left them on their night tables. She slipped out quietly, jumping from her window to the tree close by and climbing down until she reached the ground. After that, she started to run. She was running faster than she ever had before, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was reminded of Gene, but that just made her run faster. _

I hope you are watching, mom. Because I know I'm making the right choice. _Lucy thought as she exited the estate, and disappeared into the forest that surrounds her house. She went to the one place that she thought she would be safe in._

Magnolia.

~Flashback end~ (**Sorry if that was an eyesore. :p)**

* * *

><p>Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts as Natsu yanked her hand. He dragged her into an alleyway and held her against the wall, both of them panting harshly. She was going to ask him what he was doing, but he just covered her mouth with his hand, indicating that she shouldn't talk. The security guard just ran passed the alleyway, screaming, "You rotten kids, where are you?" Once he had passes and he was out of sight, Natsu took his hand off her mouth.<p>

They stared at each other for a few seconds, their noses almost touching, before they both looked to the side at the same time. They were both the color of Erza's hair. Natsu backed up a little to give Lucy her space. Natsu found his eyes wandering over to Lucy's again, making contact with hers for a few moments. Then something happened.

They both burst out laughing at the same time.

Lucy was trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes, but she laughed so much that she could barely breathe. Even Natsu was holding his sides. Anyone who saw him depressed before would see a completely different person. "That was fun!" Lucy exclaimed as she exited the alleyway with Natsu in tow. Natsu calmed down a bit, and was now wiping the salty water from his eyes. "Who was that guy, anyway?" Lucy asked, looking at Natsu.

"He was just some phony security guard that bought his police costume from Party City and is just there to get free candy from the snack shop and look into women's purses." Natsu shuddered at the memory when he tried to sneak a look into Erza and Juvia's purses when they last went there. A thought occurred to Lucy.

"How do you know he got his outfit from Party City?" She asked with a curious expression. Natsu smirked.

"I saw him buying it." Lucy burst out laughing again, which Natsu joined shortly after.

After getting themselves some hotdogs and taking a lap around Magnolia park, they realized that it was already getting dark, so Natsu offered to walk Lucy him. Lucy was about to decline, but Natsu was already dragging her towards her apartment.

Natsu and Lucy were walking down the road towards Lucy's apartment, and Lucy was walking on the stone wall that was about four feet above the ground. Natsu was about to tell her that she should be careful, otherwise she might fall in, but he was mesmerized at how the silvery glow of the moon reflected on her golden hair, making her shine like a goddess. Natsu shook his head while blushing, hoping that Lucy didn't notice. Lucy hopped off the ledge when they arrived at her house.

"Alright, this is my stop. Thanks for today, Natsu. I had a lot of fun." Lucy said with sincere eyes.

Natsu shook his head. "I should be the one thanking you. I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Natsu said while giving her a boyish grin. "Listen, my friends and I are taking a walk around our college campus to try to get used to navigating ourselves around on our first day of school. It would be great if you would come with us." Natsu said with hopeful eyes. Lucy stared at him blankly before her mouth turned into a very wide grin, and Natsu swore that every inch of heat from his body rose up to his cheeks.

"I would love to come with you. I'll ask Gray if it's okay with him." Lucy said smiling. She said goodbye before turning around to go back into her house, but she spun around again. "Oh wait! Here, give me your phone. I'll give you my number." Lucy said, handing him her phone. They did a number exchange before Lucy went back into her house, saying that she would see him tomorrow.

Once again, Natsu was staring at her closed door for a few seconds before he sighed and started to walk off.

Suddenly, he heard the door of Lucy's apartment open again. Before he could do anything, Lucy stood on her toes and gave him a very friendly kiss on the cheek. It wasn't romantic, but more of a kiss shared between friends. As quickly as she came, Lucy went back into her house and closed the door quickly, leaving Natsu standing star struck, holding his cheek.

Natsu, after recovering his mental state, started to grin and stride off towards his house, thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

What he didn't know was that Lucy was leaning her back against her door, holding her lips, while thinking the exact same thing.

**Hi everyone. I know it has been a long time since I updated, but I was having writers block and school wasn't helping a lot. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I promise, the next chapter will be longer. **

**Review please.**

**~RansomeNote**


	10. Not Again!

**IMPORTANT FOR STORY PLOT!**

**I know it may seem that Lisanna is the bad guy, and I promise that she will try to break Natsu and Lucy up, but the real bad guy in this story is Jude Heartfilia.**

**Trust me, I will make Lisanna try to break them up so that sort of makes her a villain, and I have been writing her so she is a bit bitchy, but Jude is the real one who will try his hardest to break them up, like he tried to do to Lucy and Fairy Tail in the Phantom Lord incident.**

**Nonetheless, if you do NOT like seeing Lisanna as a bad guy, you can check out my other story on my page. I'm not as proud of that one, but I think it is still decent. For those of you that like seeing Lisanna as the bad guy…**

**This is the story you're looking for!**

**Now on with the story.**

Yesterday's events with Natsu were… interesting to say the least. Nonetheless, Lucy had a lot of fun. She hasn't felt that much adrenaline in a very long time.

Saturday morning was the opposite of eventful, at least for the first few hours. Gray and Lucy had breakfast together, the usual scrambled eggs and Very Berry Clusters cereal. Juvia came back from her sleep over at around 9:30 and immediately latched onto Gray, rambling on about how much she missed him. Gray didn't mind, and he actually looked like he was enjoying it.

Lucy was working on her novel in her room with her door closed. She knew that Gray and Juvia knew that she was writing a book, but she didn't want them to see her writing rage. You see, when she has a great idea that just slips from her mind, which happens a lot, she goes into a rage and starts throwing things, no matter if it is a paper ball or lamp, she just has to throw something. Sadly, she was too engrossed in her novel to remember to close her window.

Lucy was sitting at her desk in her comfortable pajamas consisting of a tight blue tank top and loose sky blue silk pajama pants with smiley-faced clouds on them. She had her full attention on her novel. Her doe brown eyes were concentrating on her penmanship as she transcribed her thoughts onto paper, as her golden bangs framed her face. She had utterly no idea to what was going on around her.

_Rika sat under her favorite maple tree reading a book that her mother got for her before she passed. As a nurse in the army, her mother died in the war between two neighboring countries. _

_The sky started to turn a beautiful goldenrod color, and the birds that were soaring through the horizon were just completing the scene. Rika sighed, and turned her cerulean eyes back to her favorite book, not really reading. _

_She was too engrossed in her thoughts to notice anything around her. Even when her best friend Tai walked up to her and asked_

"What are you doing, Luce?" someone said from behind her. Lucy was so surprised that she fell out of her chair and onto the floor. She yelped before she looked up to see her favorite pink-haired college student staring down at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused face.

"Natsu? How the hell did you get in here?" Lucy asked, putting herself in a sitting position, still with a flabbergasted expression.

Natsu put his hands behind his head and sat on her comfy bed. "You're the one that left the window open. It's only the first floor, anyone can just step in. Cute pj's, by the way." He said the last part with a smug face. Lucy started to get a little self-conscious and wrapped her arms around her knees and held them to her chest. Natsu just started to chuckle.

"That doesn't make it right to just enter someone's house without an invitation." Lucy scolded, while a part of her was amused by his antics. Natsu started to pout.

"But…do you mind?" Natsu gave her the sad eyes. Lucy had to admit that he looked incredibly adorable. He didn't really do anything wrong, it's not like he entered in when she was changing or something.

"No, I guess not." Lucy said as she took a seat on the bed next to Natsu. "So why are you here, anyway?"

Natsu breathed a heavy sigh, and avoided her eyes. "I was lonely." He said simply. Lucy could hear the sincerity in his tone and couldn't help but feel a little bad. Of course he was lonely; he had no one at home from what Gray told her. She put an arm around his shoulders and gave him a reassuring pat.

"You can spend the day with me. I mean, I'm going with you to see your college campus, anyway. You might as well stay here until we leave." Lucy said, making Natsu look up at her. Natsu grinned widely and slammed her into his toned chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her. Lucy felt her cheeks heat up, but she still returned the embrace.

"Thanks, Lucy! You're the coolest!" Natsu said. They broke apart and that's when Lucy noticed that she was still in her pajamas.

"Uh… N-Natsu? Can we hang out after I take a shower?" Lucy asked and Natsu looked at her to find her still in her sleep wear.

"O-oh, sorry." Natsu said sheepishly as he left the room. A few seconds later, she heard screaming in the kitchen. Something about 'stripper' and 'flame brains'.

Lucy got out some comfortable home clothes, which just consisted of a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, grabbed some lingerie and headed towards the shower. Lucy was a quick bather, so it shouldn't take more than five minutes to get ready.

Natsu wasn't going to lie. He expected Lucy to be ready in fifteen or twenty minutes at least. That's how long it took Lisanna, even if they were just hanging out. When Lucy came into the kitchen in five minutes, Natsu was astounded. She looked… normal. In a good way, of course. She had comfortable clothes on, her hair was tied up neatly, and she wore almost no make-up, excluding the slight tinge of lip gloss. That was one thing he didn't like about Lisanna. She wore too much make-up, and it looked fake, like she was trying to impress someone. Compared to Lisanna, Lucy just looked… natural.

"Hey, Natsu." Lucy said as she entered the kitchen. She flashed a bright smile, and Natsu couldn't help but grin back. Gray just scoffed as he walked up to her.

"Thanks for acknowledging me too, Lucy." Gray said as he ruffled her hair in a friendly manner and exited the kitchen. Lucy cringed and straightened out her hair. For some strange reason, Natsu was very uncomfortable with that scene. He decided to brush it off, thinking it was probably because he didn't want her to catch Gray's stripping habit. _Loke probably wouldn't mind if she did_ Natsu thought as he inwardly scowled.

He snapped out of his thoughts to see Lucy literally snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Are you okay?" She asked. Natsu just nodded his head frantically as he exited the kitchen, dragging Lucy with him. They both sat down on one of the couches.

"So…what do you want to do?" Natsu asked. Wow, Déjà vu. Lucy immediately went to her Xbox that she had sitting next to her television. She grabbed two controllers and turned her Xbox on. As she handed him a controller, she asked, "I hope you don't mind that we play a little GTA 5." She asked. This girl was full of surprises. It just so happened to be one on Natsu's favorite games. He played it when Lisanna wasn't around, but considering that she was almost always around, he didn't get to play it too much.

"You paly GTA?" Lucy nodded her head skeptically. "Lisanna told me that it was a barbaric game and that I shouldn't play it."

Lucy gave him an are-you-serious look. "That's exactly why we are going to play it!" She pressed the start button as she got ready to play. Natsu was just frozen with shock. Lucy looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "You can't cargo bomb a jet into an army base by just sitting there, you know." Lucy said jokingly. Natsu shook his head as he grinned.

"No, you can't!"

The two of them spent at least three hours robbing banks, cargo bombing, and shooting innocent civilians. They would have played more if Gray didn't interrupt them.

"Hey, if you two would tear your eyes off the screen for just a second, you would see it was almost time to leave." Gray said as he rolled his eyes, calling Natsu a 'dumb shit'.

"I heard that, you damn stripper." Natsu yelled after him. Lucy could practically hear Gray rolling his eyes. "This was fun, we should hang out more!" Natsu said while staring at the screen. Lucy stared at him while he wasn't looking. His eyes were filled with joy and excitement, nothing like the ones she saw when she first met him. Lucy snapped out of her daze to respond.

"Yeah, we should." Lucy said with a smile. She felt so happy.

She felt so happy that she could make a change to Natsu's day. She felt happy that she was able to bring Natsu out of his shell.

Natsu and Lucy were already waiting at the door for Gray and Juvia to come down the hall. They were getting bored because they figured that Gray and Juvia would be making out for a while, so they decided to thumb wrestle.

"1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war!" Lucy and Natsu shouted in unison while moving their thumbs side to side. This _major _battle lasted about two minutes because Gray and Juvia came down the hall, hand in hand.

"Are you guys ready to go or what?" Gray asked. Lucy could see Natsu's eyebrow twitch, like he was going to retort back with something because he made them wait, but Lucy threw a hand in front of his mouth.

"Yeah, we're ready to go!" Lucy said with a bright smile. Gray and Juvia went out the door first, and Lucy went after them, with Natsu not far behind. He leaned in close to Lucy's ear and whispered.

"I won." He was smirking, and even though Lucy wasn't facing him, she knew he was. She ran behind him and jumped onto his back, making his arms wrap around her legs, giving her a piggy-back ride.

Lucy leaned into his ear and whispered, "No you didn't." Lucy started to giggle, and Natsu just smiled. He really had no trouble holding up Lucy, she was about as light as a feather compared to him. "Oh, sorry, am I too heavy?" Lucy asked as she was about to jump down from his back, but Natsu held her legs in his firm grip.

"No way, I could climb a mountain with you on my back and not get tired!" Natsu said as he craned his head to grin at her. Lucy was overwhelmed with emotions, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his shoulder, making Natsu heat up a little.

_"You are too heavy! A proper lady wouldn't weigh this much!" _A voice screamed in her head, making her shut her eyes. No one seemed to notice, though.

"Thank you, Natsu." Lucy said as she closed her eyes. Gray rolled his eyes at the scene, but inwardly….

He was grinning.

"Hey, stripper!" Natsu called out. Gray turned around, his eyebrow twitching.

"What is it fire balls?" Gray said, annoyance lacing in his tone. Natsu ran to catch up with him with Lucy still on his back.

"Let's have a race for the last couple of blocks to the college. Whoever gets to the iron gate at the front of the school last buys the winner lunch!" Natsu proposed with a smirk, knowing that Gray wouldn't refuse his challenge.

"You're on, flame brains! Come on Juvia, get on my back." Juvia quickly complied while wrapping her arms around Gray's neck.

"Uh, Natsu, maybe this isn't a good…" Lucy wasn't able to finish her sentence before Natsu took off with Gray right next to him. Natsu's speed made Lucy wrap her arms around his neck, which for some reason gave him the drive to go faster. He pounded his feet on the concrete and increased his speed, with Gray mimicking his actions. The school was in sight, and it was only a few yards away and both boys reached out their hand to grab one of the poles, shouting insults at each other. They were about two feet away from touching the gate when they heard a voice.

"YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE FIGHTING!" A voice screamed from behind them. Both boys turned slowly, almost robotically, to see Erza standing there, her hands on her hips, and Gajeel standing not too far behind her, a smirk so wide that it might stretch his face. "W-we weren't E-erza!" Gray and Natsu stuttered, letting Juvia and Lucy down from their backs.

"We're best buddies! Right, Gray?" Natsu asked while he and Gray were doing a weird skipping thing in place. Lucy and Juvia sweat dropped, but then went over to Erza, Juvia hugging her and Lucy shaking her hand. Natsu and Gray had stopped skipping when Gajeel came over and knocked the both of them over their heads, sighing as he did so.

Natsu and Gray were getting into their fighting stance, ready to tackle Gajeel to the ground, but Lucy stopped them.

"Hey, why don't we take that tour right now." She said taking Natsu's arm gently. "I don't want you to miss your first class because you didn't know where you were." She said as she slowly pulled him towards the iron gates, with him complying almost immediately.

Natsu hoped that this tour wouldn't be anything like the last one when he was here.

"Natsu!" An all too familiar female voice called out.

But then again, fate never really gave a crap about him.

**Thank you all for reading. Yes, it has been quite a long time since I have updated, and I won't try to overwhelm you guys with excuses on why I couldn't update as quickly as I usually do. But I did promise that this chapter would be longer... and it is! SO, yeah!**

**Best Regards,**

**RansomeNote**


	11. French Literature

**I do not own Fairy Tail and this series was a creation of Hiro Mashima. Also, I do not own the poem below either, and that poem belongs to Paul Valéry.**

**Please enjoy!**

All six of the teens turned slowly towards the sound. As five out of those six suspected, it was the white-haired cheater with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Miss Lisanna Strauss.

Natsu's friends visibly tried to cover him in an attempt to protect him, which made Lucy wonder why they would do so. The white-haired girl ran up to them, and Gray clenched his teeth, trying to stop himself from cussing every bad word he knew at this girl. However, they were in the presence of an underclassman, so cussing wouldn't show good role modeling.

"Hey, guys! How's it going?" Lisanna said, pretending like Lucy isn't there. She flashed a bright smile that was aimed towards Natsu, but he just ignored it and looked in the other direction, hurt clouding his features.

"It was going fine until you showed up." Gajeel said while clenching his fists. Erza had to put her hand on his shoulder and shake her head to stop any violent attacks from happening.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Lisanna asked with fake innocence. She finally turned towards Lucy and stared at her. "What are you doing here? There's nothing to look at, so why don't you just run along." Lisanna said with a harsh tone and a sickly sweet smile.

Natsu heard this sentence to look up to see Lisanna glaring at Lucy with a fake smile. Natsu felt anger coarse through his veins, but that anger was overcome with hurt and he couldn't do anything. He finally gathered up the courage to step out of his wall of friends, grab Lucy's wrist, and gently tug her behind him, still not meeting Lisanna's eyes.

Lisanna gave wary eyes to her ex-boyfriend. Even though he wasn't looking at her, she could see that he was angry by his clenched fists and furrowed features. Lucy tapped on Natsu's shoulder and stepped out where he was protecting her, taking a spot beside him.

"And what might your name be?" Lucy said with fake cheeriness, but she held no malice in her tone.

"Lisanna Strauss." Lisanna said, taking the malice out of her voice also, but with not nearly as much enthusiasm. _If I become friends with Natsu's friends, he'll start liking me back again! _Lisanna thought as she internally smirked, thinking that her plan was perfect.

Lucy's eyes widened by a fraction. Now she knew why the others wanted to protect Natsu, because he was hurt and vulnerable against her. Lucy's fists visibly clenched, and she was hiding behind a fake smile. "And yours?" Lisanna asked Lucy with questioning eyes.

"Lucy… Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy said with a blank expression. "And I don't associate myself with cheaters." Lucy said with a proud tone but still the same blank expression. This made Lisanna _very_ angry. She didn't know how she knew about that, but this blonde chick wasn't going to get away with talking to her like that.

Lisanna stepped up to Lucy and spilled the -still steaming hot- cup of coffee over her head. Lucy yelped at the searing pain at the top of her head, and she felt her eyes start to tear up, but she refused to cry in front of the person who caused her friend so much pain. She vaguely saw Gajeel and Erza pushing Lisanna away and Juvia coming over to help her. There was only one thing she saw clearly.

Natsu holding her to his chest and looking at her with worried eyes.

* * *

><p>Lucy was in her room just lying down in the cool evening of Magnolia. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't sleeping. After the whole coffee incident, Gray and Juvia decided to take Lucy home. She washed her hair clean of all coffee and whipped cream and dried her hair. She offered to make Gray and Juvia dinner, but Gray just sat her down saying that he would order take-out.<p>

Her window was opened and she was just enjoying the soft wisps of wind that would blow onto her face, making it a little ticklish. She suddenly heard a deep, but nonetheless familiar, voice speak. (**Translations at the end**)

"_Quelle, et si fine, et si mortelle,  
>Que soit ta pointe, blonde abeille,<br>Je n'ai, sur ma tendre corbeille,  
>Jeté qu'un songe de dentelle.<em>

_Pique du sein la gourde belle  
>Sur qui l'Amour meurt ou sommeille,<br>Qu'un peu de moi même vermeille  
>Vienne à la chair ronde et rebelle !<em>

_J'ai grand besoin d'un prompt tourment :  
>Un mal vif et bien terminé<br>Vaut mieux qu'un supplice dormant !_

_Soit donc mon sens illuminé  
>Par cette infime alerte d'or<br>Sans qui l'Amour meurt ou s'endort!_"

Lucy turned her head and opened her eyes. There, standing in the ledge of her window, reading from a book, was the pin- no _salmon_-haired college student. His French was very fluent, and if she didn't recognize his voice, she might have thought that he actually was French. **(Okay, I know this a little OOC, but in this story, French is going to be Natsu's best subject, while he is sort of falling behind in the rest. But he is not failing! That's for sure!)**

Natsu hopped into her room and sat on her bed, laying the book next to her and giving her a big grin. Lucy propped herself up on her arms and pushed up to sit next to Natsu at the edge of the bed.

"_Ce était beau, merci" _Lucy said as she looked into his onyx eyes.

**(Okay, this is the translation. You can skip if you want to)**

**"Whatever, and so fine, and so deadly,  
>is your sting, blond bee<br>I have on my tender basket,  
>Only thrown a dream lace.<strong>

**Bottom of Form**

**So prick with your breast this gorgeous gourd  
>On which love dies or sleeps,<br>So that a little bit of my scarlet self,  
>will come to the round and rebellious flesh!<strong>

**I am in deep need of a prompt torment  
>A bright and well defined pain<br>Is better than an everlasting punishment!**

**So my sense be illuminated  
>By this tiny gold alert<br>Without which love dies or falls asleep!"**

**Lucy said, "That was beautiful, thank you."**

**(If I spelt something wrong, you can bash me about it, I'm not French. I'm Malaysian! :) )**

"Thanks, I thought you would like it." Natsu said as he picked up the book once more. It said _French Literature _on the front.

"How did you know I took French?" Lucy asked. It was because she took French she understood it, but you could take five languages in high school: Spanish, French, Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean, so it would be weird if he just guessed.

Natsu simply pointed to the opposite wall to her bed. Lucy followed his finger and saw her calendar with a message written in big red writing that said, 'FRENCH TEST NEXT WEEK!' that she wrote a week ago. "I saw it when I came in this morning." He leaned into her ear and whispered, "I think you'll pass it." Lucy giggled and blushed a little. Natsu looked at her and smiled a little, but then started to frown.

Lucy noticed this. "Natsu, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. After a moment of silence, he decided to speak, still not meeting her eyes.

"I'm so sorry about what happened today. I should have said something, but I chickened out. I was just so overcome by hurt." Natsu said as he put his head down in shame. Lucy squeezed his shoulder, telling him that it was going to be okay.

"It's not your fault. Betrayal is a painful thing, and I don't blame you for not saying anything." She said as she gave him a weak smile. Natsu still felt guilty, but Lucy's words helped a little. He finally looked into Lucy's eyes. He noted how compassionate and joy filled they were. He couldn't help but lean in a bit closer, making the blonde blush. To break the awkward moment, Natsu flashed a boyish grin, but he still didn't pull away.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Natsu, much to his irritation, was forced to pull away. "Uh... come in." Lucy said while fumbling a bit. Opening the door and standing in the doorway was Gray. And, of course, he didn't have a shirt on.

"I see you are still jumping through windows, eh, flame brains." Gray said with a smirk. Then he turned to his housemate. "If he gives you any trouble Lucy, then call me. I will be more than happy to knock him out of here." He said while winking, which made Lucy give a small smile.

"SHUT UP STRIPPER!" Natsu yelled. He was already off the bed and banging heads with Gray.

"Make me, Pinkie!" Gray retorted. Lucy could only sweat drop.

"What'd ya just call me?!" Natsu hissed, just as Juvia came in. Juvia just sighed, and proceeded to pull Gray back.

"Juvia told Gray-sama to get Lucy-san for dinner, not to start a fight." Juvia said with a stern voice. Gray rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, kissed his girlfriend on the cheek, and exited the room, but not before he shot Natsu the middle finger, which Natsu gladly returned. Juvia shook her head at her boyfriend's antics and turned to Lucy. "Juvia wanted to tell Lucy-san that dinner was ready. Natsu-san, you are welcome to join us." Juvia said with a smile to her friend.

"Thanks for the offer Juvia, but I have three cold pepperoni pizza slices with my name on them back home. Later!" Natsu said as he went over to the window, but not patting Lucy on the head. "Later, Luce!" He said before he jumped out. Lucy shook her head and giggled, and then followed Juvia out to the kitchen.

**I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Please review, and any kind of criticism- good or bad- will be taken under consideration! Thanks for reading! **

**Best Regards,**

**RansomeNote**


	12. Without You

**So, I still do not own Fairy Tail, or anyone in it. Give props to Hiro Mashima. Also, I loved all of your reviews. If I make a mistake or anything, don't hesitate to criticize me about it. One more thing, I had a review from a guest that gave me some facts about horses that I didn't know and that I screwed up in my story. I didn't take offense to that at all, if that person is reading this, and thank you for telling me that. Anyway, on with the story…**

The cold breeze of the October morning awoke Lucy. She looked over at her alarm clock to check the time. _6:08. _It said. _Oh crap! I'm late for work!_ She thought as she rushed to get ready. She didn't bother to take a shower on Sunday mornings because she would be working so hard at the food bank that she would have to take another one. She learned her lesson when the result came on her water bill.

Work went as any other day, she got there, hoping not to get yelled at by her boss for being late, and she organized food, boxes, and shipments of those boxes. Lucy, even though she doesn't look it, has a lot of upper body strength. Maybe she couldn't beat some of the guys at her school, but she was still pretty strong.

Lucy could have picked any part-time job, whether it was to work at Starbuck's or the hospital. However, she chose to work at the food bank because she just LOVED charity. These food cans were being donated to people in need of support and she felt like it was her obligation, as a human on this planet, to help.

_"They are pathetic worms that were not blessed like us. It is their place to squirm on the ground, while we walk over them. THAT is what being rich means." _ Lucy closed her eyes as her face morphed into one of disgust. _He _had opposite beliefs, _he _didn't care about others.

Not even her.

The four hours she spent there always left her going home with sore muscles, aching feet, and sometimes some bruises. She trudged back to her apartment, which was only about five minutes away from the food bank. She ignored the pain because she had other thoughts on her mind.

_Rent._

Rent was a huge issue for Lucy because she wasn't old enough to have a full-time job, and there was no one to support her. Now that Gray and Juvia were at her house, she would have even more trouble because she would have to buy more groceries. Before Gray and Juvia came, she sometimes fasted for some meals to make sure that she had enough money to pay rent. But if she fasted now, they would be worried about her, and she didn't want that to happen. She also didn't want to ask them for help, because she thought it would be a burden to them too.

Why would she invite college kids to stay with her if she was having trouble taking care of herself? The answer was simple, at least to her. It was for the same reason that she started to work at the food bank, because she wanted to help. In her eyes, these college kids were struggling with money, and some live very far away, so she thought that it was best if she provided a comfortable living environment for college students.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she hopped onto the cobblestone ledge that took her to her apartment near the river.

"Yo, Lucy!"

"You're going to fall one of these days, kid!" Two men in a small boat on the river yelled to her as she continued to balance herself on the ledge. She has been doing this since she moved in, and they keep telling her that she would fall in, which she never does.

"You wanna bet on it?" Lucy yelled back with an amused tone as she continued on her way. She could hear the two men laughing from the boat as the sound was fading from the distance between them.

She hopped off the ledge as she reached her humble one-story apartment, fiddling with her keys as she tried to locate the one to her house. There were many keys on her key chain, and each one had a symbol of a zodiac member on it, so she could remember which keys were for what. What she didn't find was the one with the symbol of Leo on it. Lucy groaned, she was too tired to retrace her steps, and she could always have Gray or Juvia let her in, but she will need her key eventually, and she doesn't want some creeper to find it…

Having made up her mind, Lucy started to retrace her steps, making sure to get on the four-foot ledge too make sure she didn't drop it there.

Lucy was starting to get dizzy. She was very tired from her job, and the thought of school tomorrow had her very stressed. She started to see little black dots in her vision, but she passed it off as some reflection of the sun as she continued to look for her key. _Where in the world is the stupid thing! _She thought to herself. She moved her vision a few feet in front of her to find a golden key glistening in the sunlight. She quickly balanced herself to it, picking it up, and securing it on her key chain. As she was turning around, she tripped over her own feet and lost her balance. As if it was in slow motion, she was falling.

Lucy was smart enough to gasp in a breath as she plunged into the water. The light started to become dim as she started to sink farther and farther into the river. She could definitely swim, but her muscles weren't moving to her brain's command and it was like every fiber in her body had been completely shut down. Lucy couldn't hold her breath much longer, and her vision was starting to dim by the second. She was falling out of consciousness quickly.

The last thing she remembered was falling onto something hard. Even though the river wasn't that deep, she was sure that she hadn't hit the ground yet. However, it was as if she was being lifted up, not pulled down.

* * *

><p>"…breathe." <em>Huh? <em>Lucy thought. _Am I dead? _She thought, as she was struggling to get air into her lungs. She could hear a faint voice in the distance, but it was coming closer by the minute. She felt a force on her chest, and she felt like she could breathe the fresh air again. She took a huge gasp, like a greedy child in need for candy, and started to open her eyes.

Her eyes started to adjust to the bright light of the late morning sun as she looked at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed were the deep onyx eyes staring deep into hers. They were so happy and relieved, but there was a tinge of worry and sadness.

"Lucy!" A voice said. _Natsu…_ Lucy recognized his voice instantly. Her salmon-haired friend took a sigh of relief as he hugged her to his bare, toned chest. _Wait, bare? _Lucy thought as her eyes adjusted to the toned abs in front of her. Lucy started to blush tomato red, and looked anywhere but there. She took this time to realize that she was in his lap, him kneeling on the cobblestone ground a few meters to the left of her apartment. She looked back at his face, which was nuzzled into her damp hair as he silently sobbed. She took her hand, which was very heavy mind the drowsiness and the water holding it down, and placed it on his chin. He, in turn, looked down at her, his eyes being a mix of different emotions. Water droplets dripped from his hair and onto her face, but she didn't mind.

Lucy retracted her hand, and managed the best smile she could at the moment, as she pulled herself up; however, finding this too difficult, she only got up half way. Seeing her distress, Natsu helped her into a sitting position. "What the hell happened? You could have died!" Natsu scolded her, but not sternly. It was one out of worry and love. Natsu wrapped his arms around her again and she took in his unnatural body heat, which was very soothing at the moment. She suddenly thought of something.

"Natsu… did you save me?" Lucy said in a hoarse voice. Natsu's grip nothing but tightened around her small frame as his toned arms were supporting the position they were in.

Natsu lifted his head up and looked down at her with questioning eyes. "Who else?" He said as he sarcastically looked around. Lucy gave a faint laugh as she mustered enough energy to smack him over his head lightly, but also managed a small 'thank you'. Natsu didn't seem to care about the smack, but that 'thank you' made his day. "I was so scared Lucy. When you fell, I didn't know what to do." Natsu said as he thought of what would have happened if he didn't find her in time. He started to remember what he came there for, and how it was probably the best decision of his life.

~Flashback~

_Natsu was just sitting on his ancient couch, eating some crackers. He knew that if he didn't eat, Gray would get really angry at him. Not that he was afraid of him, because he could take on that stripper any day, but when Gray was mad at him, he would send Erza on him, and that was a waking nightmare. _

_Natsu also decided to take the popsicle's advice (again, so he would not send Erza on him) and clean up a bit. He put all of his furniture back into place, he dusted and vacuumed, and he even opened up the curtains to let some fresh sunlight in. _

_Just as his apartment was starting to gain light, so was Natsu's mood._

_Natsu felt more lightweight than he did these past few weeks and it was becoming easier for him to smile. He took out his phone to check the time, and also to make a not to himself to remind him to get a new battery for his clock. He looked down at his bright screen to see his new lock screen wallpaper. It was changed from him and Lisanna laughing at the amusement park, which he looked at every day until he decided to change it yesterday, to a picture of him, Lucy, and Gray. The picture was taken by Juvia at Lucy's house when he went over there before they went to the college for that horrible tour. Lucy was in the middle, and she sported the biggest and brightest smile he had ever seen on anyone, with her head slightly tiled onto Natsu's shoulder, Gray had an arm around her, in a friendly way, on her left and had a peace sign held up with his other hand, and Natsu was on her right, also with an arm around her and leaning his head on hers. He also had a pretty big smile on his face._

_Natsu looked at himself in the picture in utter astonishment, as if he didn't recognize his own face, because he didn't remember a time in these past weeks that he had looked so happy. But that facial expression was quickly turned into one of happiness as he looked at his blonde friend leaning her head onto his shoulder. He smiled as he saw her. He knew that she was the one that made him feel lightweight, and he was contemplating what a great friend she was._

_Friend._

_Natsu didn't know why, but that word just didn't sit with him. He shook the feeling off, of course Lucy was his friend! She was one of the nicest, funniest, and most compassionate people out there! Anyone would die to be her friend!_

_Natsu looked down at his French Literature book that was sitting on the small glass table next to him, and he remembered the events of last night. How they went to the college and the coffee incident happened, and how he went to her house so he could read her his favorite poem in French. He still remembers the soft strands of hair that her ruffled as he patted her head, how the golden tresses moved evenly across his rough fingers. _

Maybe she would like to read this book. I mean, I'm done with it, because I have already taken the course over the summer, but Lucy might want to read it. _Natsu thought as he picked up to book, set down his crackers, and exited his house. He took one fresh whiff of the morning air and started towards Lucy's house, knowing that she was probably already back from her job._

_Natsu walked down the streets of Magnolia and turned into Strawberry Street. As he did, he saw the familiar golden girl glistening in the sunlight as she bent down on the ledge and picked up something. Natsu noticed that something about her made her look so tired. He was about to call out to her, but she tripped over her feet and started to fall into the river, making a huge splashing sound. Natsu was frozen for a few moments, but quickly came back to his senses as he quickly stripped off his shirt (oh god, is he catching habits from Gray?) and dove into the river, swimming as fast as she could. He caught a glimpse of Lucy, her body floating suspended in the water. Natsu became even more worried and picked up his pace. His muscles were burning from overexertion, but he didn't care in the slightest._

_As he reached Lucy, he quickly wrapped his arms around her already unconscious frame and started to swim to the surface, already running out of air himself. As he surfaced from the water, he took large gasps as he swam with his friend in his arms to the sidewalk. He heaved her up in no time flat, and proceeded to give her CPR, as he learned in one of his health courses. As she started to wake up, Natsu felt a mix of emotions, but one dominated them all._

_An overwhelming sensation of happiness._

~End of Flashback~

Natsu and Lucy were still in the same position for five minutes, not that either of them minded. Lucy looked up and stared into Natsu's eyes, and Natsu did the same. "Don't worry, Natsu. I'm fine. Thank you so much for saving me. I'm sorry I was so much trouble." Lucy mumbled the last part while looking down. Natsu gave her an incredulous look.

"Luce, you kidding? I would never turn down a friend in need. Anytime you feel like you need to fall, I'll always be there to catch you." Natsu said. It was a few words, but those words were as valuable as treasure to Lucy. She wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him into a hug, which he immediately returned. "I don't what I would do without you, Lucy." Natsu said genuinely as they broke apart.

Lucy felt her eyes water with the emotions she was expressing as she cupped his face with one hand. "I don't know what I would do without you either." She said with a heartwarming smile. Suddenly, a cold front came in and Lucy, even with Natsu's heat, started to shiver. Natsu noticed this, mostly because it was blatantly obvious, and decided that bringing her inside would be best.

Lucy started to slip out of consciousness again as Natsu picked her up bridal style and walked those few meters to her apartment. He used his legs to gently kick the door, making sure not to dent it. "Yo, stripper! Open up!" Natsu yelled to the other side of the door. The door was quickly answered by Juvia, who saw a damp and unconscious Lucy in Natsu's arms.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled as she started to panic. Gray appeared at her side a moment later, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong, and he saw his best friend standing there with his roommate in his arms.

"Lucy…" Gray whispered with wide eyes as he quickly took Lucy from Natsu's arms into his and rushed to her room, setting her onto the bed. "Juvia, can you get some warm blankets and dry Lucy's hair. And perhaps you want to get her a change of clothes." Gray said to his girlfriend as Juvia nodded and gently pushed him out of the room so she could get Lucy cleaned up.

Gray and Natsu stood outside Lucy's door as a thick silence enveloped them. Gray decided to break the ice a little. "Don't tell me I'm being an influence on you." He said as he motioned to Natsu's chest. Natsu looked down at his bare chest and remembered that he discarded his shirt as he jumped into the river to save Lucy.

Natsu scoffed. "I highly doubt that." He said as he turned around to find his shirt that was lying around somewhere outside. A hand shot out and caught his shoulder, it was Gray.

"Why don't we take a lap around the park? You can tell me _exactly_ what happened." Natsu nodded as he and Gray started out the door and exited the apartment.

_No, seriously, _Natsu thought as he looked back at Lucy's closed front door for a moment, _what would I do without you, Luce?_

**That was probably the longest one I've written so far. I hope that everyone has a happy New Year wherever they are! Ja ne!**

**Best Regards,**

**RansomeNote**


	13. (Just skip this)

**... Hello everyone!**

**So, this isn't a real chapter because the system isn't damn working and I have to update another chapter for chapter 12 to go through.**

**I just decided to type something random so if you are reading this, it is a complete waste of your time so you can just forward yourself.**

**K, Bye!**

**RansomeNote**


	14. Saved and Well

As Lucy was resting in the privacy of her home with Juvia taking care of her, Natsu and Gray were taking a lap around Magnolia Park. Natsu went outside the house to pick up his shirt, just at the moment Gray unconsciously stripped his off. Two girls on the street were eyeing them, but the boys were completely oblivious.

Natsu felt safe to know that Lucy was alive and well in her house while they were out. "So, anything you want to share?" Gray asked while giving a side glance to his friend.

Natsu shrugged. "Did you know that a pumpkin is a fruit and part of the berry family?" Natsu asked as he recalled a comment made by Lucy on their day out. Gray raised his hand to smack him behind the head, but then froze, contemplating if he did know that fact or not, and then continued his action, making Natsu wince in pain. "Okay, okay…" Natsu started to retell what happened, even the events at his house (excluding the smiling at Lucy on his screensaver part). Gray just nodded through his explanation, not wanting to interrupt. When Natsu was finished, he looked over at Gray to see if he had something to say. Gray's face was emotionless, but his hand rose up to pat Natsu on the shoulder.

"I'm just happy you came when you did." Gray said. It was times like these that the true nature of the two boys' friendship was revealed. However, it was the times where the two butted heads and called each other names that they treasure the most. "Natsu…" Natsu looked over at Gray, waiting for him to continue. "I don't know if you have seen the change in your personality, but I have. And from what I've seen, it started from when you met Lucy." Gray looked over at him with a sly smile as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Wh-what's your point, you pervy popsicle?" Natsu didn't know why he was stuttering.

Gray had seen enough, this was exactly the reaction he wanted out of the guy. He decided that he would let it go for now, but he would be observing those two very closely from now on. "Nothing, nothing. Just making a statement." Gray said slyly. Natsu decided to drop it, knowing that his face couldn't take any more heat from talking about the topic.

The boys bought some hotdogs at the stand near the park and continued their walk. Natsu had to tell Gray to put his shirt back on three times, and Gray had hit Natsu over the head six times for saying something stupid, which wasn't very surprising.

~Back at Lucy's house~

Juvia had finished changing Lucy and drying her hair. Lucy was now sleeping peacefully in bed, with Juvia next to her in case she needed anything. Juvia felt so scarred when she saw Natsu carrying an unconscious Lucy in his arms, and she started to panic. Now that Lucy was safe and she had calmed herself down, she looked back at the memory. She almost squealed because it was so cute. If it wasn't a fatal situation, she would have taken a picture.

Natsu and Gray were still at the park. Juvia realized that it had been a really long time since they had hung out. They tried to at college, but then Lisanna showed up and ruined everything. Juvia groaned, she was never really friends with her, she just hung out with her because she was Natsu's girlfriend. (**Once again, I'm sorry if you like Lisanna. I just need her to be a villain because without her, there would be no story.**)

Juvia was so glad that Natsu broke up with her, but that left Natsu so broken afterwards, and Juvia was afraid that he might even end his life because of the depression he was showing. Even Gray, his best friend (although he would NEVER admit it), couldn't cheer him up or get the fire back in his eyes.

But that all changed when Lucy came into the picture. Natsu started to open up more, as if he was reverting back to the old Natsu. It was like he had a special connection with Lucy, even though he has only known her for a few days.

Juvia looked down at Lucy's sleeping face and smiled. Lucy must be some kind of miracle to get Natsu out of depression. Juvia loved Lucy, and she thought that she would be a _way _better match for Natsu than Lisanna. Lisanna used to boss Natsu around and make him buy her lots of stuff. Lucy was kind and understanding, and didn't really care what other people thought of her.

Lucy suddenly started to stir, snapping Juvia out of her thoughts. Lucy, very slowly, opened her eyes to see Juvia staring down at her. Juvia had a relived expression as she helped Lucy sit up. The first thing Lucy saw as she sat up was the book on her night table, labeled _French Literature_.

"How are you feeling Lucy-san?" Juvia asked with worried eyes.

"I'm feeling better, thanks Juvia." Lucy said with a smile, although she was shivering a little. "Hey Juvia, can I have a sweater, please?" Juvia didn't hesitate to get up from the chair she was sitting on and go to Lucy's closet. She pulled out a pure white hoodie with deep purple letters that said 'Magnolia High Productions!' It was a thick hoodie, so Juvia handed it to Lucy, still standing up in case Lucy wanted anything else. Lucy smiled and accepted the hoodie, easily slipping it over her head and feeling instant warmth. "Thank you, Juvia." Lucy said and Juvia took this as an invitation to sit down. Juvia wanted to ask her what happened, but she decided that it was probably something that Lucy wouldn't want to talk about, so she would just ask Gray later.

"If you don't mind me asking, Lucy-san, what is on that sweatshirt?' Juvia asked with genuine curiosity. Lucy smiled and told Juvia all about her productions class and general things about her school. Juvia sat there and listened because she wanted to know how much the school had changed since she had been there, which was only last year. From what Lucy told her, the number of jocks were increasing.

After about an hour of talking, Juvia and Lucy decided to get up and make the boys a snack for when they got back, knowing that they would be hungry. Even if they weren't, they would just eat it themselves. It was a regular girl's day, and Juvia doesn't know the last time she had one of those.

Lucy was truly something special.

* * *

><p>A white haired girl was sitting at her computer in her dorm. She slim fingers were typing rapidly, and her eyes were skimming the information that she saw on the screen. Suddenly, a smirk appeared on her face.<p>

"I've finally got you," she started as she looked at her computer screen to see a blonde-haired girl, with writing above her head that said 'WANTED' in big, black letters.

"_Lucy Heartfilia._"

**Yes, I know this was a very short chapter, but I didn't have much time to write this because I'm studying for finals now and I felt like if I didn't post anything, I would forget about the story, so I just decided to write something quickly. I hope this left you at a cliffhanger, and I promise that the next chapter ****_will _****be longer. Remember to review, because reviews are nice! K, bye! :D **


	15. It's a Promise

**All rights belong to Hiro Mashima. I just own the idea.**

Gray came into the kitchen groaning like a little kid. "We have to go to school tomorrow." He whined in a childish voice as he sat down and dug his face into his girlfriend's bosom while she was petting his hair. Lucy came in fully dressed in her uniform. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Well I have to go to school today." Lucy retorted crossing her arms. Gray looked up at her and smirked.

"Sucks for you, high school was hell." Lucy gave a sarcastic laugh and was about to go out the door.

"Are you sure you should go to school today, Lucy-san? Because of what happened yesterday, Juvia doesn't think you should go." Juvia said with worried eyes. Lucy gave her a reassuring glance.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides, I have a French test today. I'll see you guys at three. Bye." Lucy said as she walked out the door.

"Bye." The two college students said in unison.

"Natsu told me that he wanted to hang out at the arcade today. He's finally getting out of his shell." Gray said with a slight smile on his face. Juvia got up to wash the dishes.

"You know why, don't you?" Juvia asked without turning to look at him. He gets up and hugs her from behind and put his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I do." He said as he gave a short, comforting pause. He let go and was about to exit the kitchen. "Hey, what's this?" He asked as he picked up a piece of glossy paper. To this question, Juvia turned to look at what he was talking about. She walked over and looked over his shoulder. It was a photograph of a young Lucy. There was a man standing next to her. He had a gruff face, with a big yellow mustache and piercing gray eyes. However, there was one thing about this picture that was really bugging Gray.

_Lucy wasn't smiling._

* * *

><p>Lucy walked through the halls of her school, trying to push through the crowd of people to get to her next class. She saw lots of people in groups of friends. The thing was, it didn't bother her in the slightest that she didn't have many friends. It was mostly because she didn't want to draw attention to herself.<p>

She just got back from lunch and was heading over to her last period of the day: Video Production. When she entered the class, she took the seat closest to the door, ready to burst out of there when school was over. Mr. Yasemaru entered just before the sound of the bell rang.

"Good Afternoon, class." He just received weak replies because everyone was so tired. "Anyway, we'll be working on editing audio and video of our newest production given by the drama class. Also, I hope that everyone has started on their video projects that are due this Thursday.  
><em>Damn, I was spending so much time over the weekend with Natsu that I forgot! I'll just start in it tomorrow. I have a lot of homework today. <em>The bell sounded, letting all the students leave.

~Time Skip: next day~

Lucy was already fully dressed. She got ready early so she could see Juvia and Gray off. She was eating her cereal, which Gray almost finished, and was studying for her Algebra test which she had second period.

Gray and Juvia walked in wearing their regular clothes. Fairy Tail University allows people to express themselves, so they don't have to wear uniforms.

"Hey, guys, have a great first day!" Lucy said as she hugged Juvia and Gray.

"You too, Lucy. Our schedules are on the fridge, so you'll know when we'll be back. My last class ends at four, and Juvia has swimming after all of her classes, so I won't be back until then." Gray explained. Lucy nodded, and the three of them set out the door together, but took different routes once they hit the side walk.

~At the college~

There were thousands of people there, which made sense since Fairy Tail University was one of the biggest colleges in Fiore. The five friends walked up to the big university, still clueless about where they were supposed to go. They were silent at first, not knowing what to say. Gajeel decided to break the silence.

"Well, I've got Auto Engineering in…" he looked at his Android. "six minutes, so I better start walking now." Gajeel said as he entered the university and disappeared in the crowd of people.

"The three of us have Statistics 101 next. And that starts in like, twenty minutes, so we have time to kill." Gray said to Natsu and Juvia, who nodded. "What about you, Erza?"

"I have to go to the fencing arena now before I get late, later." Era said as she ran off in a different direction than Gajeel went.

While Natsu, Gray and Juvia were just hanging around the huge fountain that was in the middle of the university, Natsu felt like something was nagging him, like he wanted to ask something, but he just couldn't remember what it was. Suddenly, he remembered.

"Hey, guys." He started, making Gray and Juvia look at him. "How is Lucy doing, is she okay? Sorry I didn't come by yesterday to check." Juvia gave a slight smile.

"Lucy-san is fine. She went to school yesterday and came back alright, so Juvia is sure she is fine." Juvia said, which made Natsu grin. Gray smirked, thinking this was the perfect time to tease the boy.

"Why? You miss her already?" Gray said as he nudged Natsu with his shoulder. It was clearly visible that Natsu's cheeks turned a bright pink, almost the color of his hair.

"Sh-shut up, Stripper! I was just asking because she is my friend and all and I was worried about her." He said quickly, the blush was still evident on his face.

"Oh, really? Just friends, hm?" Gray said narrowing his eyes, the same smirk plastered on his face. Juvia thought that this was a good time to jump in before Natsu had a heat stroke from how intense that blush was.

"Juvia thinks we better start walking to Statistics before we are late. We have been wasting too much time here." Juvia said, cutting into their conversation.

"I completely agree!" Natsu said, still trying to hold down his blush. "Let's get going." Natsu said as he started to walk in the direction to the left of the fountain.

"Fire Balls!" Gray called out to him, and he could feel a vein pop on his forehead. "The class is this way!" He said, pointing in the opposite direction that Natsu was going in.

"I knew that Pervy Popsicle!" Natsu said as he stomped away in the direction that Gray was pointing in, while butting heads with him. Juvia just shook her head. _Boys, _she thought.

The first day of Statistics was _so _boring. It took everything in Natsu's power to stop him from falling asleep. He did it in high school a lot, but Natsu realized that he better get his shit together in high school otherwise he would end up living on the streets. _I bet Luce wouldn't mind if I stayed with her _thought Natsu. He realized what he thought and quickly shook his head, ruffling his pink locks in the process. _What the hell am I thinking? I shouldn't be thinking about stuff like this._ Finally it was eleven and he could finally get out of that hellhole. He and Gray were almost jumping for joy by the time they got out of there, and Juvia's expression remained the same.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

><p>Lucy got home at the time she usually did, she was about to call out for Gray and Juvia, but realized that they had gone off to college, so she just closed her mouth and went to her room. The first thing she did was pull out her video camera. She couldn't forget to make the film otherwise she would get a scolding from Mr. Yasemaru, and that never ended well.<p>

Lucy walked across the wooden floor in her house and went into the living room, where light was streaming from behind the blinds. She flipped open her camera, and pressed the record button.

* * *

><p>It was about 3:50 by the time Natsu got out of his last class. There was only ten minutes until Gray got out of his, but there was no way that he would wait there any longer, so he started to make his way back to Lucy's home. He wanted to check on how she was doing, and he wanted to give her the French Literature book that he never got the chance to. Natsu took what he thought was the sensible way of entering a house: the window. He hopped into Lucy's room to see that she wasn't there. Barely anything was touched; however, he saw her backpack on the floor at the foot of the bed, so he knew that she was at least home from school. He stalked around the house, keeping his guard up in case Lucy was going to kick him because she thought he was a burglar or something.<p>

He walked into the living room to find her camera laying there on the floor. _She probably dropped it _thought Natsu. But what was really starting to bug Natsu was the fact that the carpet was a bit ruffled and the chairs were moved a bit out of place. Lucy was kind of a neat freak, as Natsu learned, and liked to keep everything nice and orderly.

He walked over to her camera and picked it up. He knew that he probably shouldn't go through her private property, but there was something telling him that he should turn on her camera. He took the camera and sat on the closest leather recliner to him. He pressed the play butting, and a Lucy appeared on the screen. "Hello!" She said. Natsu smiled when he heard her voice and how happy it sounded. She talked a little bit about a foundation that connected to her. But what happened afterwards shocked him to the core and he felt like a million knives were stabbed through his heart.

A man wearing black burst open the door. Lucy looked at him in surprise, but before she knew it, he put a cloth around her mouth and she started to lose her breath. Natsu could only watch the screen as the camera was dropped to the ground. He could see that she was struggling from the little vision the camera gave him, but then, her body went limp, and she was dragged away. The camera went dead after that.

Natsu was in completely shock. Someone had just kidnapped Lucy only about an hour before he got here. Natsu clenched the camera in his hands, and made one swear.

_I swear Luce. I'll find out who did this to you, and so help me god, I will get you back. That's a promise. _

**I hope this chapter was to your liking. The real plot is about to unfold so I hope you guys are excited for that!**


	16. The Runaway?

**All rights are reserved to Hiro Mashima.**

Lucy woke up from her unconscious state with a throbbing head. She thought that she might have just done too much schoolwork, and fell asleep on her table and maybe Gray carried her to bed. But now that she thinks about it, the only thing she remembered doing was filming her video.

All of the past events came rushing back to her as she quickly looked around the room she was in, and the very look brought tears to her eyes. She was in a large room, with bed covers made of the finest fabric, and curtains strung adjacent to the grand window. It was a room that she was very familiar with.

Because it is hers.

She hated this room more than anything. It brought back so many memories of when she was still living here, and those were painful memories, things that she just wished were wiped from her brain.

Lucy was so shocked that she barely noticed the beautiful wooden door creak open. "Ms. Lucy?"

"Capricorn? Is that you?" Lucy asked as tears fell freely down her face. Her butler ran up to her, in the most mannerly way possible, and hugged her.

"I haven't seen you in over a year Ms. Lucy. Where were you? Were you safe?" Capricorn asked quickly. Lucy just nodded her head and tightened her arms around her torso. "We were all so worried about you." He finally said after a moment of silence.

"Capricorn, why am I here? I don't want to be here, I was happy where I was." Lucy said as she tried to hold back her tears, but the attempts were futile, as new pools of salt water started to form in her eyes again.

"It is not my choice to make, Mistress. You know that it is Master's." Lucy visibly froze and Capricorn knew that he shouldn't have brought it up.

"Princess." A stoic voice said. Standing in the doorway was her favorite maid Virgo who was like a mother to her after her real mother died, even those she was weirdly masochistic. "The master has summoned you. He says it is urgent." _Great, the first time I've talked to him in over a year and he doesn't even ask me directly to go to him. _Lucy clenched her fists but she did as her maid said, and proceeded to get dressed. Capricorn looked like he wanted to say more, but he decided that it would be best if he just left her be for the moment. With that thought, he and Virgo exited the room.

* * *

><p>~Back in Magnolia~<p>

Natsu was panicking, and when he called the police he could barely get a croak out. Gray came home a few minutes after, and started to yell at Natsu for entering his house without permission. When Natsu showed him the video, Gray was wide-eyed for almost ten full minutes, almost unresponsive. Natsu was even worse. He had tears running down his cheeks and he didn't have the energy to wipe them away.

Natsu and Gray were still there when the police were searching the house. Juvia came home and tried to get Natsu to talk, but he just wouldn't respond. He unconsciously tugged at his scarf, hoping to find comfort in doing so; however, he found none.

The police searched the entire house and even the backyard but couldn't find a single lead on where the captor might have taken Lucy.

"We're sorry, there is nothing we could find to help search for your friend. However, we will continue this investigation." A policeman said. Natsu clenched his fists, wanting to scream every foul name he knew at the policeman, but Juvia held him back, and softly shook her head.

"It's alright, thank you for your help. Let us know if you find anything." Gray said as the policeman walked out the door. Following him was his squad, and they all left without a single glance towards the three college students, except for the last one.

"Hey, your friend, what is her name?" He asked.

"It's Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." Natsu mumbled. Just her name brought a pain to his chest.

"Heartfilia!" The policeman exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "That was the last name of the runaway girl." The policeman shuffles to one of the pictures of Lucy that was lying on her table. "She looked exactly like her. She ran away over a year ago."

"Wait, so Lucy-san is a runaway?' Juvia asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Not only that, she is supposedly the daughter of one of the richest men in Fiore. She ran away and no one has been able to find her since. Everyone has just assumed she was dead, even her own father."

"What kind of father loses hope that his own daughter would be alive?" Gray said, shaking his head in disdain.

"Well I can't tell you that. However, if Mr. Heartfilia has found her, he would surely take her back to the Heartfilia mansion." The police officer said.

"Kalen!" The a police officer from outside called.

"A moment!" He shouted back. "Look, I have no idea where the Heartfilia mansion is, but if we find anything out, we'll give you a call." Kalen then walked out the door, leaving three speechless young adults standing in the living room. Natsu fell back, but luckily, a chair was behind him and it broke his fall. He was in such a state of shock. Lucy, _his _Luce, is a runaway? Something about that just didn't seem right to him. Gray was the first one to break the silence.

"Well, I think the only thing we can do is just stay back and let the police handle this. We don't want to be getting in their way." Juvia nodded in agreement, but Natsu had contradicting ideas.

"No, we have to find her, we have to save her!" Natsu said a bit too quickly. He was starting to hyperventilate and Juvia and Gray had to try to calm him down. For once in this past week, he felt broken again. Like all of the patching up that has been done has fallen apart, but now the pieces were tinier than before. Never before has he lost a dear friend, someone who meant so much to him.

"Natsu-san, there is nothing we can do. Juvia thinks that if we just leave this to the police, they will get it sorted out. Don't worry, Lucy-san is a strong girl, she will be perfectly safe." Juvia said as she struggled to maintain a smile. On the inside, she was contradicting her own words. Would Lucy be fine? Will she be found in the condition that they saw her in just this morning?

Natsu just stormed out of the house, and Gray and Juvia didn't bother to follow. They knew that he needed some time to himself, and they wouldn't deprive him of that.

* * *

><p>Lucy walked down the hall of the grand mansion, dressed in an elegant dress that would be fit for a princess. She stopped in front of a large ebony door, but did not open it. She just stared at the handle for a moment, contemplating if she should turn it or not. Once Lucy gathered up her courage, she turned the handle, and pushed open the door.<p>

**Yes, I know it has been a while since I have updated and this chapter is a little bit shorter than the rest. However, I'm still planning where I want to go with this story and that might take a while. I hope everyone is fine wherever they are. K, bye!**


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